


Swear Not By the Moon

by tenspetal



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Anxiety, Biting, Blood Drinking, Blood and Violence, Clubbing, Comedy, Cute Dong Si Cheng | WinWin, Dating, Eventual Fluff, Everyone Is Gay, Explicit Consent, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff and Humor, Human/Vampire Relationship, Kissing, Light Angst, M/M, Misunderstandings, Multi, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Xiaojun and Hendery are best friends, liu yang yang is annoying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:22:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 46,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24158812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tenspetal/pseuds/tenspetal
Summary: When people tell you to 'go out of your comfort zone' and that you'll 'learn things you never knew about yourself', Xiaojun didn't imagine himself here, on the edge of town, and probably about to be beaten to a pulp. He should have just stayed inside and watched Netflix all night and not listened to Hendery. Who needed to get out and do fun things anyways?Definitely not Xiaojun.
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Xiao De Jun | Xiao Jun, Liu Yang Yang/Wong Kun Hang | Hendery/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas
Comments: 21
Kudos: 186
Collections: Weishen Fest: ANYTHING BUT HUMAN





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an entry for Weishen Fest! My prompt was ABH115, and this is actually the first chaptered fic I've ever completed, so I hope you all enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to my beta reader who without them, this story would have never gotten anywhere.
> 
> TW// homophobia & violence

The sun had begun to set on another Friday after work. Xiaojun hurriedly scrambled through the bustling streets, past the skyscrapers and other shining buildings back to his small apartment. He’d rather be caught dead than be outside after dark; of course, he probably would be dead if he was walking out in the night in the first place.

Most people, including his close friends, were satisfied with the government’s laws that were in place when it came to the vampires that lived among them. Xiaojun, however, still had his complaints. Therefore, he found himself always rushing home after work when the sun threatened to hide and allowed the creatures to take over the city.

Was he being a bit dramatic? Probably. Hendery always says so.

There really weren’t that many vampires in the first place, a few thousand, maybe. Hendery always reminded him of this when he invited him to hang out on the weekends with Yangyang and Lucas, reassuring him that he would be safe.

As the little green walking man replaced the red x, Xiaojun began to hustle across the street past the scariest building of all, the bougie blood bar. He wasn’t sure of its actual name, but everyone knew that the few vampires that did exist in the city usually stopped by to ‘refresh themselves’ every month or so. Of course it just conveniently happened to be directly in Xiaojun’s path every time he had to walk to and from his job in the coffee store of a giant high-rise. He stared with poorly concealed fear at the glassy, see-through door entrance as he practically ran in front of the building to get away as fast as possible.

Okay, so maybe he was being a bit ridiculous. You heard about deathly attacks by cows more often than you heard about a vampire attack, and even more often than not it was due to self defense. In fact, not once had Xiaojun ever actually seen a vampire, and neither had any of his friends. The only reason there was a blood bar in the city was because of the laws put in place that made it so.

With these facts repeating over and over again in his head, Xiaojun continued the rest of his short trip home, his stare plastered to the sidewalk and determined to ignore the looming sunset.

When he got home, he immediately dropped his work bag on the ratty brown couch that sat in the corner of his studio apartment before slinging himself across it. He sprawled out and stretched his muscles, groaning. This work week had kicked his ass.

His boss, Kun, had hired two horribly inexperienced baristas. During the morning and lunch rushes that brought with them angry business men in hordes, they had been swamped and berated with insults. One can only hear how much of a failure they are so many times from someone thousands of times richer than them before their self esteem disintegrates to ash.

Xiaojun stared at his double bed that was sandwiched on the opposite side of the room before turning his head to the right to look at the small kitchen, single stove top and all. He was hungry and he was tired, but he could just roll over and sleep on the couch without having to move at all. That sounded like the plan, and as he grabbed the quilt his grandma made that he always left on the sofa, his phone started to buzz.

With a groan, Xiaojun flipped over so his cheek pressed into the couch cushion, distorting his voice slightly when he answered.

“Hello,” his voice tone completely uninterested and flat.

“Xiaoooojuuuuuunniiiieee,” Hendery’s over eager and loud voice sang from the other side of the phone. Xiaojun only grunted in response because he knew exactly where this was going. “Come out with us tonight?”

“No.”

“But Juuuunniiiee! You haven’t gone out with us in over a year now, and you work all week so I only get to see you like maybe twice a month if I’m lucky!” Xiaojun hated to admit it, but his fear of the dark* (*vampires) did keep him from seeing his best friend. And he did miss him…

“You know I hate going out after dark.”

“Yes, because of your irrational fear of vampires, I know.” Xiaojun sputtered at that.

“Irrational? Irrational?! They drink human blood! They could kill you with a flick of their wrist!” Hendery scoffed.

“There you go being overdramatic again,” Xiaojun grumbled at the insult. “Listen, this club is really cool! Yangyang found it and it’s like half old timey bar, and half video game club!” Xiaojun would be lying if he said that didn’t sound super interesting. “Aaannnd, it’s a gay bar! So maybe we can finally find you a date.”

He could practically hear Hendery’s eyebrow wiggle through the phone. Ever since Hendery had this weird almost throuple thing going on with Yangyang and Lucas, he had been obsessed with finding Xiaojun a boyfriend too. The thing is, he was just too busy! Also, never going out when the sun was down probably didn’t make it any easier to find someone. There wasn’t exactly a plethora of gay men lining up to hit on the barista at a tiny coffee shop in the middle of a giant corporation’s skyscraper.

“Hendery, I just can’t. It really sounds like fun, I mean it! And I do miss you,” Hendery started whining complaints at that, “-but! I just can’t. It’s too much of a risk.” A deep sigh resonated from the other side of the phone.

“Okay, fine. I understand. If you change your mind, you know who to call!”

“I doubt that, but okay. Love you.”

“Love you too!”

The line beeped and Xiaojun was left in silence, face still smushed in the ancient pillows of his couch. He flipped over onto his back and placed his phone on his chest, staring up at the ceiling.

Years he had spent avoiding going out at night, only breaking the habit a handful of times for work. Nothing bad had ever happened. Maybe… he should go out? As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he immediately dismissed it. No way. He wasn’t dying tonight.

Several hours later, Xiaojun had been bombarded in their shared group chat by pictures of the three boys and their fashionable outfits. Hendery had made Yangyang and Lucas take a multitude of pictures of him and the three together to hopefully entice Xiaojun to join. He would be lying if he said it wasn’t working a little bit.

The boys were shown in different poses, usually holding alcohol, and just genuinely looking like they were having a good time.

Xiaojun was hunched over his coffee table with a cup of ramen, stuffing his face and angrily pouting at the incoming messages. He wiped his hands on his sweats and knew he looked like a mess in comparison. Hendery had glitter in his hair and it looked so cute… Xiaojun wanted glitter in his hair. Muttering, he quickly typed a response saying that their teasing wasn’t going to work, and to not come crawling back to him when they all got their blood sucked dry. This only resulted in them all calling him overdramatic and sending a video of them cheering and taking shots.

It’d be so much easier if he just wasn’t scared. Why was he scared anyways? His mind immediately rattled off a list of a hundred reasons to be scared of vampires that even had himself rolling his own eyes. Xiaojun wished he was like the majority and could just go on living his life before everyone knew about vampires, but… he just couldn’t.

His head dropped down dramatically to bang against the table. Well, if he couldn’t bring himself to go out, he could always have fun here alone instead. Xiaojun stood up and crossed the short distance to his tiny kitchen. He pulled out the already opened bottle of white wine from his fridge. Pulling out a coffee mug, he poured a large glass and set it down to take a picture to send to the group chat. He titled it ‘I can have fun at home too!’ before sending. The immediate response was all three boys sending sad faces and giving his photo a thumbs down.

Xiaojun picked up his mug of wine and chugged it quickly, only shuddering slightly before pouring himself another mug full and going to sit back down with his cup of ramen.

‘Bunch of jerks,’ he thought. ‘I can dress up and look cute, too.’

So that’s exactly what he did. Ruffling through his giant dresser and rack of clothes he had out in the open, he picked out a cute outfit. He tossed around a few old sweaters and far too gaudy jackets that he wasn’t sure why he bought in the first place, before he settled on a classic outfit.

Xiaojun hadn’t dressed up in ages and honestly strutting over to look at himself in his full length mirror caused him to get a surge of confidence. Maybe it was just the two mugs of wine he had downed, but he thought he looked damn good.

He had on a bright silk blue blouse that had three buttons opened to expose the line of his collarbone, and the front was French tucked into a pair of black, skinny jeans. He also had on black boots and one silver dangling earring in the shape of a cross hung from his left ear.

Running his hands through his soft caramel brown hair to give it some volume, he took his phone out and snapped a picture of his outfit. The guys were sure to be at the bar already and definitely wouldn’t respond, but he wanted to show them he could be cute too. Ignoring the obvious red tipsy flush to his face, he hit send and plopped down on his wooden floor with a smirk on his face.

That’ll show them.

What he didn’t expect was Hendery to immediately read the text and to respond with a picture of his own. Yangyang had an arm around him and Lucas tucked his chin onto his shoulder and they all looked absolutely drunk.

_‘Xiaju n, com here yu look so cute! Il send the adresss!! <3,’ _read the caption. Wow they were wasted, and from the way that it took Xiaojun extra effort not to sway when he stood up, maybe he was too. Hendery pinged over the address (even though Xiaojun didn’t ask for it) as he stood there staring at the message.

Should he go? He was already dressed up, and it did look like a lot of fun. It seemed like the bar/ club was packed and in a good location. Staring at the address he could tell there were definitely typos, but Xiaojun was sure he could figure it out.

After pouring one more mug, smaller this time, of wine and pacing around his apartment sipping it dry for a solid ten minutes, he had decided. Possible death and fun with friends it was!

Quickly dialing a taxi service, he drank the last bit of wine left in the bottom of the bottle to muster up his courage. He could do this. He looked super cute and he missed his friends. His work week was absolutely horrible and he deserved this, dammit! He would hang out and dance and play video games and then come home and sleep in.

He could do this.

Fifteen minutes later, a taxi arrived and Xiaojun stumbled into the backseat and rambled off the address that he had pieced together from Hendery’s incoherent texting. He sent a quick text to the chat that he was on his way. Buckling his seatbelt, he caught the eye of the driver who was typing in the location on his phone.

“You sure you wanna go here?” Xiaojun could barely hold back a scoff. Sure there was definitely still homophobia nowadays, and he guesses he should have expected the strange look he received when he was going to the obviously gay part of town dressed flamboyantly, but he shouldn’t have to tolerate that. He couldn’t help but to sound slightly snarky when he replied.

“Yes. I’m sure.”

“Okay,” the driver turned back around and promptly shut up, probably due to Xiaojun’s attitude. Good. He could take his homophobia and shove it.

The ride was a bit longer than he expected it to be, but the wine bubbling in his veins made the time go by fast. With his nose stuck in his phone trying to text the guys and find out where exactly they were with varying levels of success due to the fact that they were all drunk, he didn’t even have time to worry about how it was night out.

This was going great! Xiaojun chuckled softly to himself. He had totally built it up as something horrible and scary in his head for no reason!

The taxi rumbled to a soft stop and Xiaojun fished his wallet out of his back pocket. He paid the fee and gave a curt thank you to the driver. Opening the door and stepping out into the night made Xiaojun shudder. He couldn’t remember the last time he had stood in the dark outside and the season was changing to winter. A cool breeze whisked around him, tousling his bangs out of place before Xiaojun quickly righted them back into an orderly fashion.

He shook himself slightly and mumbled over and over that this was fine and would be fun, and he could get drunk and forget it was night time. And, y’know, forget about the vampires, too.

Yes! Forget!

With his newfound confidence Xiaojun finally took in his surroundings, which caused him to abruptly halt on the sidewalk. The sound of wheels turning lightly on the loose gravel behind him signaled the taxi was leaving him here.

Where was he? Why was it a scary as shit bar surrounded by motorcycles and even more scary looking bars in a not good part of the city? Was he still even in the city? Was this whole thing just a giant prank? Oh he was so going to kill Hendery.

Pulling his cell phone out of his tight back pocket, he quickly dialed Hendery’s number. No answer. Xiaojun then called Yangyang and Lucas with the same results. Letting out a loud curse, he looked back up and down the street once more, thoughts slightly swirling from alcohol. Sending a quick text to the group chat saying that he was here, and that he was still pretty sure this wasn’t the right place; but he attached a picture of the old bar in front of him just in case. Hendery had said it was an old fashioned bar… maybe the gaming part was on the backside on the building?

Wind whipped around through the side alleyways between the bars, a few people shuffled in and out of entrances and exits of the other buildings, just not the one he was supposed to go into. There was only one person leaning up against the right side of the front, smoking a cigarette.

Since it was dark out, he couldn’t see the guy very well, but he definitely fit the description of who he thought would be in this bar. He had immaculately styled black hair that fell slightly over one side of his forehead, a fitted leather jacket and clean jeans with sleek boots to match. His skin was so white that Xiaojun could see the multitude of dark earrings adorning his ears even from this far away. Taking a few steps up the sidewalk to the bar, he called out to the other.

“Sorry, excuse me?” The man turned his head leisurely to face him, before taking a long drag and leaning his head back against the wall to blow the smoke into the air. The expanse of his neck stretched out and… wow, he was gorgeous. The man’s eyes faced his once more and he quirked an eyebrow in response. He had distinctly feline features and for some reason Xiaojun’s mouth had now run dry. He tried to speak again.

“Sorry, um, are you going into this bar?” He jutted out a thumb to the entrance of the old bar in front of him that his friends had given him the address too. Another long and disturbingly sexy drag of his cigarette later, the other finally just shrugged in response. Xiaojun couldn’t hold in a scoff. “Thanks for your help,” he muttered out, adding a quiet “not,” at the end. He could have sworn he saw the other’s lips turn up into a smirk almost as if he had been able to hear him.

That was a mean gay if he’d ever met one, and if he was at this bar, Xiaojun was probably in the right place.

Walking to the entrance, he lightly pushed the door open and walked straight through. It was a nice old fashioned motorcycle bar and Xiaojun would have totally thought it was cool except, well, a motorcycle bar usually comes with motorcyclists.

Stereotypical looking tough men loitered in the bar, some at a set of pool tables, some in booths towards the back, and a couple were around a beautiful waitress whose breasts were heaving out of her shirt. Okay, Xiaojun definitely didn’t belong here.

Before he could turn right back around and make a run for it, a man whose arms were littered with tattoos stood up from the front bar, holding a beer and began to stalk right over towards Xiaojun.

Oh no.

He did the only thing he could think of, which was to turn to the closest waitress and ask for the bathroom.

“Sorry, just coming in to use the restroom, ha-ha, do you have a restroom? I’ll leave right away. I’m so sorry,” he rambled on. The beautiful blonde woman looked at him with confusion, but silently pointed towards the back right of the bar, where the tables cut off and there seemed to be a small hallway. He thanked her and ran past the hulking man who had been sauntering his way.

Scuttling past tables of angry looking men, he turned the corner and noticed two doors. One had an old used restroom sign hanging on it, and the other seemed to lead out to the side or the back of building. Perfect! He went into the bathroom and locked the door and scrambled to call Hendery.

The phone rang and rang before cutting off to a beep and a cheery message to leave a voicemail.

“Shit.” Xiaojun dialed Yangyang next. “Pick up, pick up, please, please please please…” someone knocked on the door. How long had he been in there? “Sorry, one second!” He called out to whoever was waiting for him.

Curses kept flying out of his mouth as Xiaojun scrambled to call Lucas. The banging on the door sped up, startling him so badly he dropped his phone on the very obviously unsanitary ground of the bathroom.

“Shit!”

“Yeah, I have to!” A loud gruff voice echoed from the other side. Oh lord.

Xiaojun picked up his phone and wiped it on his dark jeans before inspecting the screen. There was a small crack at the top. Barely withholding a groan, he then unlocked the door to let in whoever was outside.

Only it wasn’t just one person.

A group of men from the bar were led by the one tattooed man who had tried to approach Xiaojun earlier before he scampered off to the bathroom. They now stood huddled around the door, and before Xiaojun could make an attempt to lock himself back inside, one of them maneuvered himself between the door and slammed it shut, effectively trapping him.

There were five men, all at least a head taller than Xiaojun himself, now cornering him towards the alleyway exit. The giant fellow heading up the attack, or whatever this was, grabbed Xiaojun’s pretty silk blouse by the collar and yanked him out the side door. As he was shoved outside into the cool air, the hair on his arms standing on end, he lost his brain to mouth filter.

“Uh, that’s silk so if you could please be gent-“

“Shut up,” the man threw him to the ground, his head banging lightly against the opposite brick wall.

“Ow,” his pathetic exclamation caused the men above him to chuckle darkly.

“Now, if you wouldn’t mind explaining what a fairy like you is doing in a bar like this?” Xiaojun cleared his throat to begin explaining, his voice surprisingly steady.

“See, that’s actually a funny story, you guys are gonna love this,” he rambled, laughing from unease and the disgusted faces of the men, “my friend, he was drunk and sent me this address and like I was kind of drunk too, so I couldn’t read it, right? And it was like this gay bar and we were suppo-“

“I said shut up, fag!” The tattoo man obviously in charge, who had yanked him out here, pulled him up again by the collar of his shirt. Xiaojun’s eyes began to mist at the derogatory name. He hadn’t been called that in so long, and it did things to him that he wasn’t willing to admit. For some reason though, his mouth still continued to run, call it a defense mechanism.

“I’m sorry, but really this is silk so-“ Xiaojun had his eyes trained on the man in front of him, trying to keep his balance on his tippy toes from being held up, so he was caught off guard, to say the least, when a swift punch landed in his gut.

“He said stop talking, fag.” Ah, there was that name again.

The force of the blow caused Xiaojun to drop to his knees coughing harshly. Sure he worked out and honestly he was starting to bulk up a tiny bit, but he was nowhere near the level these guys were. When he had landed, his hands scraped the ground forcefully in order to stop his head from hitting the concrete. Stinging went up his palms and knees and he knew without even looking he was probably bleeding. He bet his pants were ripped too, and these were his favorites. Damn.

Honestly, the situation was just starting to really sink in for Xiaojun. He was going to have to just take whatever they were going to dish at him and hopefully make a run for it. He was fast and significantly lighter than these men so he was sure if he caught a break he could run. If he made it out of here in one piece, there was no way in hell he’d ever leave his house again.

The men started to talk about something else, but all of the words were rushing past him. He could only process the sound of his blood pumping fervently in his ears. His head hung low, eyes locked on the pavement where small wet dots of tears began to stain it darker while his torn up hands held his body up from completely collapsing.

He was pretty sure they were repeating something to him, so he timidly looked back up with wet, questioning eyes.

“Well, pixie boy?” The biggest brute who had started this whole mess sneered down at Xiaojun while one of his other lackeys spit right next to the boy’s head.

“Yeah, what do you have to say?” The one who had spit asked. Unfortunately, he hadn’t heard anything they had said after the last slur was tossed Xiaojun’s way. So now he was just dumbly staring up at this group of horrible strangers and softly crying while his stomach throbbed. He was sure he’d throw up at any second. Perfectly on cue, he could feel his back pocket start to vibrate; probably one of the boys finally calling him back. Assholes.

“I-“

“Can you all just shut the fuck up? I’m trying to smoke in peace over here,” a calm musical voice drifted through the alleyway.

Every head, including Xiaojun’s, turned towards where the road was. It was dark and there was only a faintly working light that flickered from the street, casting a shadow across the guy now walking towards them’s face.

“Excuse me?” The head asshole thundered out in response.

“You heard me,” the mysterious man continued to slink down the alley towards the group of people. “I’m just trying to relax and enjoy the night air with my cigarette, but I can’t very well do that with all of the loud obnoxious noise being made by you and your idiot friends, now can I?”

Wow. This guy had guts.

The ‘idiot friends’ comment definitely stirred up the men, and broke the few of them from their silence. Everyone began to shout out at the newcomer, slinging insults and death threats. It didn’t stop until the leader silenced them all with a gruff yell. He stepped forward into the new guy’s space, leaning down. Mystery man was significantly shorter, leaner, and all around much more petite than this guy; Xiaojun had no idea what he was doing.

“Oh, I get it,” the man guffawed before turning back to stare at Xiaojun still on the ground, pointing at him then turning his hand around to point again at the new guy, “your little boyfriend came to save you! That’s it, right?”

His minions all laughed whole heartedly at the joke while mystery man just rolled his eyes and took a drag from his cigarette still in his mouth before blowing it into the leader’s face. Xiaojun sucked in a sharp breath of fear at what the other had just done.

Great, now they were both screwed. It’s not like he didn’t appreciate this new guys sense of bravery and overall badassery, but he would have preferred him to just call the police so they could both be saved and not pummeled in this dark alleyway until god knows when.

“Grab him,” angry leader man gestured to Xiaojun, and he was quickly lifted back up off the ground by his silk shirt that would never be the same after today. Once again, he was forced to stand on his toes while the buttons down the front of his blouse began to tug and pop off. Great, now this shirt really was going to be a mess.

The scary tattoo man bent slightly down into new guy’s space, finally giving Xiaojun an opening to get a good look at the new guy. It was then that he put two and two together. This was the hot, mean, gay guy who was outside the building when Xiaojun was about to go in. For some reason he couldn’t help but to be mad at him for a second, even if he was trying to save him, because this all could have been prevented if this man had just answered him in the first place.

God, why did he ever leave the house?

When the leader went to grab for the mean, gay guy, he dodged his grasp so quickly that Xiaojun was sure he was still drunk. There was no way that what happened was possible. Tattoo man leaned forward and basically toppled to the ground in the empty space where the newcomer once was, and boy did he look pissed.

He quickly lumbered back up and gestured for his other men, besides the one grabbing Xiaojun, to circle the other while he just continued to smoke his cigarette, looking completely unbothered, just slightly annoyed. Someone from the back of the tight circle lunged for mystery man, which he once again easily dodged, causing the attacker to stumble into one of his friends. Both men were sent tumbling to the ground in an embarrassing display.

Cigarette guy continued to toy with the men, always staying just out of reach. Dodging one way, only to duck and have two of the lackeys collide head to head, and even once, when the leader was swinging a horribly fast right hook that ended up lodging itself right into the face of the nearest member of his crew. At this display, Xiaojun couldn’t help but to let out a soft chuckle in spite of the situation. Truly, it was pretty funny watching them all bumble around like idiots, only hurting themselves while the attackee simply smoked his cigarette while ducking and weaving.

Unfortunately, too caught up in the hilarity of the fight, he forgot that one of the men was still tightly grasping his collar. So, when the man heard Xiaojun’s mocking snicker, he found himself in a lovely chokehold. And by lovely, he means terribly stifling and choking. Hm, maybe that’s why it’s called a chokehold?

Xiaojun’s hands went up to try and pry the thick muscled arm from his throat so he could breathe, while the man growled for him to shut up again in his ear and to ‘stop fucking laughing.’ Well, he definitely wasn’t laughing; actually, he wasn’t even breathing and he was pretty sure he was about to cry again. When the mystery man started to take on a swirly dream-like quality that he was sure wasn’t the wine from earlier, Xiaojun realized that he might pass out.

The man’s grasp loosened lightly, when their leader took a jab right to the eye, which allowed oxygen to rush back into his lungs. His vision was dotted with little white spots, with his line of sight still locked onto cigarette boy. Xiaojun vaguely wondered what his real name actually was, before the grip on his throat tightened once more.

The mystery man’s focus was directly on Xiaojun, so when he saw this, he heard something along the lines of “Oh, fuck it all,” come out of his mouth before he finally drew his fist back and punched the lackey nearest to him.

The man ricocheted into another who was behind him, before they both slammed forcefully into the brick wall Xiaojun had banged his head on earlier.

When his thin arms failed to pry the other from his throat, mystery man came up and grabbed the arm holding him. Xiaojun was so faint, he wasn’t exactly sure what happened, but he heard a crack and suddenly he was on the ground and able to breathe.

Everything was swimming in his line of vision and he definitely heard more cracks and a possible whimper. However, the only thing he was focusing on was not passing out. He allowed himself to lie lightly on the ground and breathe while the world whirled around him.

This would make a fun story he could tell at Hendery’s funeral. He began imagining himself standing behind a podium, doves flying, and the beautiful sunset shining light over the people in the cemetery while Hendery’s casket was being slowly lowered into the ground. Yangyang and Lucas would be staring in fear at Xiaojun knowing they were next.

Ah, what fun.

“You okay?” A voice droned into his thoughts, disrupting his beautiful planning of the death of his best friend. He tried to push himself up by his hands and knees and- _ow_ , that was a no. Xiaojun let out a low groan in response. A sigh echoed from above him, and soon he was being lifted up into the air by a hold under his armpits. Oh wow, things were kind of swirly again.

“Swirly,” he breathed out.

“Oh shit, sorry,” Xiaojun realized it was the mystery, cigarette, mean, gay guy talking and holding him up. He really needed to learn his name. The other grabbed Xiaojun’s arms so that he could drape himself across his shoulders and hold him steady while he gathered his whereabouts.

When things got a little less spinny, and thoughts of murdering Hendery could be put off for later, he realized that the other men who had cornered him were in varying levels of hurt and pain sprawled around in the alley. Cigarette man still had said cigarette in his mouth, though he was basically just smoking the filter at this point. This close up, mystery man was sexy. Like, really sexy. Xiaojun didn’t even mind the smoke that was wafting very lightly into his face and causing him to sputter out a few coughs. Honestly it might have not even been from the smoke, it could have been from the giant punch he took to the gut. The other noticed that the smoke was causing him to choke a bit though and he quickly apologized, putting the cigarette out.

Of course, he chose to put the cigarette out onto the passed out tattoo leader’s bald head, and Xiaojun appreciated the finesse.

“Feeling better?” The stranger’s melodic voice smoothed his worries and made his head a little less bad fuzzy and more, like, good fuzzy. Less concussion fuzzy and more like warm… wow this guy was cute.

He also saved his life.

Holy shit he owed this guy so much. Xiaojun finally untangled his grasp and stood, although slightly wobbly, back up on his own two feet.

“Yes, thank you,” the stranger nodded and looked into his eyes for a few seconds before turning and beginning to walk back out to the street. Xiaojun stood there in shock for several seconds, realizing that this guy was just going to leave him, before he ran after the man as fast as he could in his definitely not okay state. “Wait!”

He turned back around to face him, adorning the same raised eyebrow that got them into all this trouble earlier in the night.

“Did you need something?” Rude.

“I just- can I have your name?” The man tilted his head slightly and put his hand into his back pocket, pulling another cigarette out. Cheap yellow light reflected off his silver studded earrings catching Xiaojun’s attention and he couldn’t help but notice how pretty everything about this stranger was. And so, so alluring.

“Ten.”

He lit the cigarette. When did he even pull out a lighter?

“Ten what? Ten guesses?” The stranger let out a laugh that tickled Xiaojun’s ears with its beautiful pitch.

“No, my name is Ten.”

“Ohhh.” He stared at the stranger, Ten, in silence still trying to process everything.

Was he in shock still? Probably. Where was he again? And since when did someone smoking a cancer stick turn him on so much?

“Are you sure you’re okay? You look a little… lost.” Xiaojun was definitely lost. Lost in this man’s eyes who he owed his life to.

God, when did he get so cheesy and easily wooed. Long gone was the snarky and usually stoic charmer that was Xiaojun. In his stead, sappy and easily enthralled Xiaojun now took his place.

“Sorry, just, I owe you big time. I mean it. Is there anything you want? I work at a coffee shop, and I know it’s not much, but I could give you my free drinks? We get one a day,” Ten chuckled lightly, stalking back over to Xiaojun. Their eyes met, and he swears the other’s stare alone caused his blood to boil. Heat spread its way up his neck and cheeks, settling in a bright red blush on the tips of his ears.

“You owe me, huh? Be careful what you say, baby,” Xiaojun gulped. Baby?

“What’s your name?” His tone shifted from predatory to genuine so fast, he was sure he was getting whiplash.

“Xiao Dejun, but you can call me Xiaojun.” Stepping forward the rest of the short distance, Ten brushed Xiaojun’s bangs back from his forehead before his eyes darted down to his basically completely ripped open shirt. Ten didn’t stop there as he lightly splayed his fingertips along the open blouse and fidgeted with the loose buttons. For some reason, all the muscles in Xiaojun’s body tensed up. He felt like he was being stalked, sized up, that he was in danger. But this man had just saved him, hadn’t he?

Ten’s fingers continued their leisurely crawl to his horribly wrinkled collar and began to tenderly smooth out what he could and straighten it back as close to its original form as he could get it.

“You’re very cute, Xiaojun, I’ll remember that offer.” His eyes snapped up from where they had caught on Ten’s pink lips and settled onto his gaze, his black eyes piercing his own dark brown ones. “But for now, I think you should sleep.”

He felt his phone start to buzz once again in his back pocket, and then Xiaojun’s world went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments and kudos make me smile~


	2. Chapter 2

Blearily blinking his eyes open, Xiaojun noticed he felt warm. Too warm. Why was he so warm? He turned over in his small bed, or well, he tried to turn over; trapped by a mass of warmth holding onto him. Legs were intertwined with his and a soft breath fell on the back of his neck. As he looked down, he realized he actually wasn’t even in his own bed, and the man latched onto him was none other than Hendery.

He was in Hendery and Yangyang’s shared apartment, snuggled up to his best friend who, for some reason, he was sure he currently hated. As the sun speared its way through the blinds and lit up the disarray that was his friend’s room, it all came rushing back to him. Finally getting the courage to adventure out, ending up in that horrible, horrible bar, the sexy somewhat scary man who saved him, and the men who had attacked him.

What was that guy’s name again? Xiaojun wracked his brain, which felt slightly foggy, probably from the alcohol he guzzled last night.

Oh yeah, Ten.

Ten. The stranger who he now basically owed his life to. What had even happened though? Xiaojun remembers almost passing out, getting helped to his feet by Ten, the obvious sexual tension, and then what? He guesses he probably did end up passing out after all.

Oh lord, did Ten help him get back to his friends too? Now he owed him even more. This only left the problem of how he was even going to find him to repay him.

Untangling himself from Hendery, he stood up from the bed and did a quick assessment. Xiaojun didn’t hurt nearly as bad as one probably should have after getting thrown around and basically choked out by buff men. Stretching his arms above his head, he realized that other than his cloudy head, he felt much better than he did even on a normal day. Hm.

Leaving that mystery to figure out later, Xiaojun leant forwards and picked up the pillow he had been resting on that was next to Hendery’s face. He held it high over his head and brought it down with as much force as he could muster to slam into his best friend’s head.

Hendery awoke with a scream and jolted backwards before rolling off his side of the bed in shock, tumbling to the floor. Xiaojun quickly jumped on the bed and crossed to the other side to stare down at his hopelessly confused friend. Blinking up at him slowly, eyes still trying to wake up and adjust to what was going on, Hendery was once again assaulted by Xiaojun.

“This,” **smack** , “is for,” **smack** , “almost,” **smack** , “getting,” **smack** , “me killed!” He punctuated each word with harsh blows of the pillow that had started to spurt feathers all over the ground from mistreatment.

Hendery had his hands up in a feeble attempt to protect himself from the angry onslaught that was Xiaojun’s fury. He had no intention of stopping though. Not when Hendery asked for an explanation, not when he started to apologize, and definitely not when his friend finally stood up and began to run away out into the living room trying to escape.

Xiaojun chased him around the couch, coffee table, and kitchen island yelling profanities, before Yangyang’s door opened, and he poked his ruffled bed head out to access the noise.

“Was goin’ on?” Yangyang asked innocently. That was his first mistake. Xiaojun began to target the youngest now instead and left Hendery to hide in a corner.

They all spent an embarrassing amount of time running around the apartment from one another and getting attacked by the now completely flat pillow from Hendery’s bed. Only once was Xiaojun out of breath did he slump down onto the couch and recline his head backwards to stare at the ceiling.

Yangyang was stationed behind the kitchen counter, crouching so only his eyes peeked over the edge, while Hendery was splayed on the ground by the coffee table, head cradled in his own hands to prevent further blows. The two slowly joined Xiaojun on the couch when they realized that the assault was finally over, and Yangyang laid his head on his shoulder.

“So, do you want to talk about it?” The youngest asked, while Hendery nodded encouragingly.

So talk about it he did.

Xiaojun started from how horrible his work week had been, to receiving the texts from his friends that night, to drinking and finally deciding to branch out of his comfort zone. When he got to the part of arriving at the bar, Hendery got up to make them all some coffee, since they were definitely hungover. As he described calling his friends while stuck in the nasty bathroom, Yangyang winced and began apologizing profusely which Xiaojun just waved off.

Honestly, he understood. If he was drunk and dancing in a club with his sort-of-boyfriends, he wouldn’t have checked his phone too much either. It didn’t mean that it wasn’t their fault though, which Xiaojun remembered to remind them at every given moment the story called for it.

Finishing his tale, all of them now nursing their own cup of coffee, he noticed his two friends had been silent for some time. It was a lot to take in.

“So yeah, then I guess I passed out and the next thing I know I’m in Hendery’s bed,” Xiaojun shrugged, looking between the two boys for answers. Hendery cleared his throat before explaining what had apparently happened next.

“Well, I saw your missed calls, and the picture you sent of that nasty bar, so I tried calling you back a couple times. The second time your phone was picked up by some guy who said you had met and you were drunk and needed to be taken home,” Xiaojun looked to Yangyang for confirmation who nodded at the story.

“Yeah, when we all realized that you were in the wrong place, we all left the club and tried to get a hold of you. When you picked up Hendery’s phone call, or the guy did, we immediately got a ride home to wait for you here.”

“We probably shouldn’t have given that guy our address, but we were worried about you so,” Hendery trailed off, guilt swimming in his eyes. Xiaojun raised his hand and patted his back.

“So I guess Ten helped me get home,” he answered for them.

“Ten is his name? The vampire?” Yangyang asked, and Xiaojun’s blood ran cold.

“What? No, he’s not a vampire. He’s the guy who saved me.” The other two shared an incredulous look before Yangyang continued.

“Xiao, from what you described, how he beat those guys and handled the situation. I mean,” he paused to let out a sigh, “he’s definitely a vampire.” Hendery only nodded when Xiaojun looked at him for backup.

“Nuh uh, no way. His eyes were totally a normal black color, he didn’t have any fangs, and he was smoking a cigarette?” Hendery giggled at that before speaking.

“Since when can’t vampires smoke?” Xiaojun sputtered, trying to rationalize.

“I-I mean! They drink blood! And that’s it! That’s how they live!” Yangyang patted his back affectionately.

“It’s okay. I know your mind is blown realizing your worst nightmare saved your life and now you feel indebted to him, but he was definitely a vampire.”

“Yeah,” Hendery added on, “I felt strangely drawn to him, and his voice made me feel so good when he dropped you off. I thought it was just cause I was drunk and horny, but-“ Xiaojun cut him off by smacking him upside the head, causing the youngest to giggle.

They dropped the subject in exchange for making breakfast because Yangyang’s stomach had started to rumble so loudly Hendery said it was making his hangover headache worse.

As they sat around the table, breakfast almost finished, a knock came at the door. Hendery sprung up and answered it; it was Lucas with ‘hangover stew’ which was supposed to cure them all. Xiaojun, by that point was full, and wanted to get back to the safety of his flat.

On his way out, he made sure to berate Lucas a bit and give him a few good smacks to be fair to the other two that had been pummeled that morning. Lucas, being the big puppy he is, apologized profusely and picked him up to spin him around, squeezing him, promising to always keep him safe.

“Lucas, be careful! Xiaojun literally got beat up, he’s probably in pain!” Lucas gasped loudly at this information before setting the smaller down.

“It’s okay Hendery, I actually feel completely fine. I don’t even have bruises,” Xiaojun reassured them. Yangyang looked up from where he was shoveling a spoonful of stew into his mouth, rolling his eyes.

“Vampires.”

“Not a vampire.”

“Sure, gege, sure.”

If Xiaojun was scared to go out during the night before, he was terrified now. Not even only during the night, but during the daytime too. Walking to and from work was the only time he went outside, which wasn’t too different from before if he was being honest with himself. Pre incident, he would sometimes go and read or practice guitar in the park behind his complex, but even that now seemed like too much of a risk.

His friends constantly tried to cheer him up, and reassure him, often coming over with his favorite take out and wine, but nothing helped. The only thing that really drove Xiaojun’s interest day to day was the mystery of Ten.

Yangyang had continued to tease him about Ten being a vampire until Lucas had promised to withhold cuddle time if he didn’t stop. Xiaojun couldn’t suppress a groan when he had heard this, but it ended up doing the trick and stopping his mean onslaught of vampire jokes. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense though. He had been otherwise preoccupied in the moment, but when Xiaojun thought back, there definitely were some signs.

So, he had probably been saved by the thing that scares him the most. But, why was it that he still felt such a strong need to find and repay him?

A few weeks after the tragedy that was Xiaojun trying something new, he was slowly starting to get back to his normal state of fear. A few days prior, he had actually gone out to brunch with the guys before paying halfway through the meal and leaving. But still, it was progress.

Ten had refused to leave his mind, or his dreams for that matter. He would dream of the gorgeous man holding his hand and kissing his way up his arm to suck on his neck. Lingering there until Xiaojun was sure he would have a hickey, and instead of plush lips he would feel a harsh bite. Since it was a dream, he didn’t really feel the pain, but the fear was there.

Waking up in a cold sweat, he would immediately reach up and prod the area, making sure it was just a dream, and every time it was. He would fall back asleep, only to dream of Ten in a different scenario, always ending the same way. Getting bitten.

Yes, this was basically Xiaojun’s worst nightmare. And yes, he still wanted to find him.

He knew it didn’t make any sense, but even though the dreams were scary, he also felt a sense of longing and, he was ashamed to admit, arousal. Since the dreams seemed to have no intention of stopping, and Xiaojun still very much wanted to find the other to repay him, he figured the least he could do is prepare himself a little.

So began the attempt to find any and everything about vampires that he possibly could.

However, simply typing in ‘vampires’ to the Google search bar brought up almost exclusively articles and statements about the laws that were passed and bills currently trying to secure them in society to make sure everyone was safe. There was next to nothing on vampires themselves, how they worked, and definitely nothing on what it was like to get bitten by one.

Xiaojun did accidently stumble upon an entire website dedicated to vampire porn which he quickly closed out of… before opening it back up and bookmarking it for later. You know, in case there was anything to find out from it.

So yes, he was getting a bit better.

He was at work after his boss, Kun, had fired the incompetent newbies which caused them to be under staffed that day. It was the middle of the week, hump day, and the businessmen were as angry as ever. Time was flying by due to the work load that was divided between the few employees still there. Apparently, coffee was in high demand that day, so Xiaojun didn’t notice that it was a bit later than normal when they finally started to close the small store. The building began to calm down.

The seasons were creeping into winter, and so, the sun had begun to set earlier and earlier, which was the sole reason it was Xiaojun’s least favorite season. So when he finished cleaning out the espresso machine and he had a spare moment to look up to the front of the wide windowed building, he noticed that the sun was already almost completely set.

Xiaojun froze in place, hands full of mushy, grinded up espresso beans halfway to the trashcan. Kun almost ran into him.

“Xiaojun, you okay? Need any help?” Kun asked sincerely. This snapped him out of the trance the darkening sky had put him into; he needed to finish and go home _fast._

“No sir, I’m sorry. I’m almost done.” Kun simply nodded in response while Xiaojun sped his working pace up to the maximum speed, weaving in and out of his fellow coworkers in order to complete his duties. In fact, he had never finished his closing duties this fast before in his life. Kun even gave him an encouraging pat on the back to recognize how well he did, but at that point it didn’t matter. There was barely even a smattering of sunlight left outside, and he was most definitely going to be forced to walk home in darkness.

Sitting in the small break room, he debated what to do. Would it be better to wait and call for a taxi? The sun would be completely set, and he’d get home much later due to traffic. Or he could try and run home as fast as possible and have to be outside less time. But then he’d be out in the open alone in the darkness… Well, not alone. He’d be walking home with everyone else who had just gotten off work.

By the time he had made a decision, it was several minutes later, and Xiaojun cursed his own indecisiveness. Gathering his belongings, he hung up his company apron and headed towards the exit. Pausing before opening the door, he surveyed the outside. Busy streets, clogged with rush hour, dark skies shrouded by clouds and pollution. 

He could do this.

His apartment was a brisk twelve minute walk away and if he booked it, he could probably cut it down to eight minutes.

Taking a deep breath, Xiaojun pushed himself forward out of the exit and ducked his head, hurrying along the streets. If he focused on something else, like what to make himself for dinner, he could almost forget where he was. Except that because he was moving so fast, he was occasionally bumping shoulders with others on the cramped sidewalks. The pedestrians he knocked into would shoot him glaring looks and Xiaojun would be brought back into the moment and reminded why he was in such a rush in the first place.

His anxiety was reaching an all new high, when he encountered the all too familiar glowing red x signaling he was to wait on the corner while traffic proceeded. Just across the street was the blood bar and until now, Xiaojun genuinely had forgotten about it.

Lightly hitting his head with an open palm, he chanted underneath his breath about how stupid he was for putting himself in this situation. It was dark; of course there were bound to be vampires in there now! And he had to walk right past it!

When the x transformed into the little green man, Xiaojun speed-walked like no one had ever speed-walked before. In fact, he was getting really good at this. Maybe he should enter the Olympics. Wasn’t speed-walking a category nowadays?

His mind wandered, but his anxiety didn’t cease; so, when a familiar gorgeous man started following after him it took him, a surprisingly long amount of time to notice.

He picked up the shadow once he had passed the blood bar. Xiaojun felt chills run up and down his arms one he had reached the end of the block, which caused him to turn around and stop.

Ten stood directly behind him, staring right into his eyes.

“Finally. You walk fast,” Ten responded with ease, but his hands were clenched awkwardly by his side. Looking into his eyes, Xiaojun noticed something was off. More than off. Maybe it was the fact that his once pitch black eyes were now a deep red.

“Y-you,” Xiaojun started, raising a shaky hand to point at the other. Ten just smiled in response.

“Me?” He smirked at Xiaojun’s loss of words, which brought a frown of annoyance to his face. Another hoard of people crossed beside him. His breath hitched at the darkness, and his shoulders shook lightly, eyes darting back around to the path to his home.

“I-I’m sorry, Ten. I really need to go home. It’s dark and I-“ He had started to turn back around again, and head off to his home; however, the other gripped his wrist loosely in order to prevent him doing so.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to repay me? That you owed me big time?” Ten purred out. Xiaojun stared into his crimson eyes, completely enraptured and for some reason, feeling less anxious.

“Yes, but-“

“But?” He stood there as people continued to mill around them. What was Xiaojun going to say? Blinking widely a few times, he finally came back to his senses. He had to get home, like, _now_ , but he did owe Ten his life.

Ah, shit.

“Okay, okay, yes I owe you! Just please I have to go home.” Ten seemed satisfied with this answer and just nodded before letting go of the other’s wrist and following after him down the sidewalk.

Tense is too trivial of a word to describe the rest of the journey back to Xiaojun’s apartment.

Ten was walking right behind him the whole way. Not touching the other, but lingering close enough for him to still know that he was there. People would give Ten strange looks, but as soon as their eyes met, they would duck their heads and scurry off. He had ended up creating a kind of bubble around them which allowed Xiaojun to move even faster home. So, at least there was that.

Clumsily clambering up the closest set of stairs in his complex, they arrived in record time to his apartment regardless of the sudden stop in the middle of his trip. Fishing around in his bag, Xiaojun dug out his keys and jammed them into the door. He stepped in hurriedly, waiting for Ten to follow him.

Standing just outside the threshold to his little studio apartment, Ten stared back at the other, a whisper of amusement on his face.

“Uh, hello? Didn’t you want a favor or something?” Xiaojun sassed out, definitely not enjoying having to wait and keep his door open, especially at night.

“You have to invite me in, silly.” Xiaojun’s heart plummeted. His stomach was in knots as he stared, wide eyed and shocked at the other. Ten simply stood in place and stared back calmly.

Okay, but it was just manners right? It’s still possible he’s not-

“I can basically hear you thinking it through,” Ten cut off his inner monologue. “Yes, I’m a vampire, and yes you have to invite me inside or else I can’t come in.” It was like Xiaojun was a balloon and someone had poked a tiny little needle into the top and squeezed the air out of him slowly.

“Oh,” he said breathlessly. “Okay.”

They stood there staring at one another. Xiaojun’s hand still frozen on the open door, eyes still wide, and mouth open as if he was about to speak. And yet, he couldn’t bring himself to say the words. The longer he stood frozen with the same expression, the wider Ten’s smirk got until it turned into an actual smile.

“Okay, okay, okay, yeah, okay,” Xiaojun rasped out, shifting his weight back and forth between his feet in order to gear himself up. “Yeah, sure, okay. Vampire, yeah.” Ten couldn’t help it when he let out a resounding melodic giggle. He stepped sideways, to lean against the door frame.

“You really are cute, you know?” This would be so much easier if he wasn’t a sexy vampire. “You don’t have to invite me in. I get it. You just seemed so adamant about owing me and paying me back, so I figured I would take you up on your offer. But really, it’s okay. I can go.” Ten made to turn around before the other stopped him.

“No!” Xiaojun shouted out, his voice echoing down the apartment hallway. Ten stopped and shot him a confused look. “No, I mean. You’re right. I’ve wanted to find and repay you, I’m just…” he trailed off, swallowing deeply. The vampire’s gaze followed his bobbing Adam’s apple, and his pupils dilated at the sight.

“Scared?” Ten’s eyes shot up to connect their gaze once more, and Xiaojun nodded timidly.

“But really, I owe you and it’d be rude of me to leave you out here. And also keeping the door open is creeping me out,” he said, looking up and down the hallways. “Okay, Ten, you can come in.”

Smiling genuinely, feline eyes glimmering with mirth, Ten stepped across the threshold and into his flat. Xiaojun had just invited a vampire into his house. What the hell was he thinking? As the vampire began to size up his very small studio apartment, looking from the unmade bed to the strangely endearing homemade quilt thrown over the couch, Xiaojun tried to strike up a conversation.

“So, what brings you into the city?” Ten crossed over and plopped down onto the brown couch, grabbing a ratty pillow to hold onto.

“I’m thirsty,” Xiaojun could feel sweat gather in the palms of his hands at the sincere confession, “and my usual doesn’t want me to feed on them anymore.” Nodding like this was a completely normal conversation people had all the time, he crossed to his bed to listen to the rest of the explanation.

“So, I came into the city to go to the blood bar, _Ematici_ , since I couldn’t find anywhere else to drink,” Ten sneered as he said the name in perfect Latin. Well, now Xiaojun finally knew the name of that horrible place.

“Do you not like it?” Ten barked out a harsh laugh, sneering so intensely it sent shivers up Xiaojun’s spine.

“That place is disgusting. Usually the people who work there just want to whore themselves to immortality,” he spit out. “They’re always corrupt and full of disgusting vampires and stupid humans who don’t know any better.” He shot Xiaojun a quick glance at the last part. “No offence.”

“None taken.” Ten sighed before burying his head in his hands and continuing.

“I went there, and I saw some people I haven’t seen in a long time,” he raised his head to make eye contact. “Let’s just say I was quickly reminded why I don’t go to those places anymore. I was leaving when I smelt you, and you smelt super distressed again, so I followed your scent and then voila,” he sat back, stretching out his arms, “now we’re here.”

Xiaojun blinked slowly, trying to process everything he had heard.

“You… smelt? Me?” Ten nodded.

“You smelt almost as anxious as you did that night when those men…” Ten trailed off, his eyes turning a deeper shade of blood red as he stared into the distance.

“Ahhh, okay,” Xiaojun shifted, uncomfortable on his bed, grabbing his small stuffed animal cat to hold onto for comfort. “So, for your favor you want…?” The other hummed an affirmative noise out lightly.

“To drink some of your blood, yes.”

You could hear a pin drop it became so silent. Xiaojun stopped breathing, and he was able to hear his own pulse echo inside his head. He was sure Ten could probably hear it too, which probably wasn’t helping his case. Man, he was an idiot. He really invited a vampire into his home that was basically starving, and what did he have to protect himself with? A stuffed animal? Idiot.

“Relax, I can smell you working yourself up,” Ten sighed, after several tense moments. “I’m not going to do anything you don’t want to.” Xiaojun nodded at this. Maybe it was naive of him, but he genuinely believed the vampire when he said he wouldn’t touch him unless he gave explicit consent to.

“Well, will it hurt?” Shrugging, the other shifted to begin to stand before speaking again.

“The last person who was my regular, loved it. Most humans, in fact, describe it as euphoric and come to find themselves almost addicted…” his eyes glazed over slightly, looking as if he was recalling a memory. The vampire then scratched the back of his head, shrugging.

“But I also know some people who have tried it and hated it. Listen,” Ten continued to walk towards his front door, “I realize now it was a bad idea to try and pursue you. I was just pissed off and starving when I smelt you, so I followed, but I should have known you’d never agree,” Xiaojun opened his mouth to protest, “Which is fine! You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

As Ten had his hand on the door and began to turn the handle, Xiaojun jumped up.

“But I want to!” He practically yelled out, startling Ten. His hand froze on the knob, before dropping back to his side. He turned to face him. “I mean, it’s just a onetime thing, right?” The vampire took a couple steps closer, eyes getting smaller as if to size up his prey.

“Of course, I’m not asking you to be my regular or anything. I’m just having trouble finding someone, and I don’t want to support those assholes at _Ematici_ ,” he didn’t stop walking forward as he spoke, taking on a slow prowl. His arms hung by his side loosely, looking like he was almost gliding slowly across the wooden floor to stand by Xiaojun and his bed.

“T-that’s fine, I owe you,” the grip on his favorite stuffed animal tightened, “I mean once i-is f-fine?” It came out almost like a question instead of a statement due to his nerves.

At this point, Ten was next to him, looking at him from up under the gaze of his long lashes. When he blinked, his eyes were almost hypotonic, coupled with his locked on stare. Reaching up, the vampire gingerly traced his fingertips down the side of Xiaojun’s neck, pressing lightly on his pulse point to feel how his blood rushed just beneath the surface.

Prying the stuffed animal from his grasp, his knuckles white with how tensely he had been holding onto it, Ten set the little plushy back down on the bed before gently pressing on Xiaojun’s shoulders to get him to sit. He grabbed his chin between his thumb and pointer finger, raising his head lightly from side to side to observe what he had to work with.

“Once is more than fine,” he finally answered. “When did you last eat?” He asked unexpectedly. Xiaojun blinked in confusion, opening his eyes which that had begun to shut on their own, out of fear. It took him longer than he would like to admit to get his wits together to answer.

“I had a late lunch, uh, m-maybe 2pm?” Ten nodded and turned around to glance at the kitchen clock. It was just past 6pm.

“Okay, good boy. It’s important for you to eat,” Xiaojun’s head began to spin at the term of endearment.

“Good boy?” He breathed out as Ten situated himself next to Xiaojun, circling an arm around his shoulders, in order to hold him against his chest.

“Yes, such a good boy,” the vampire hummed.

Xiaojun began to feel warm and fuzzy again, something he found himself feeling quite often in the presence of the other. Had Ten drugged him? Did a vampire drug him and he was he now going to be murdered on his own bed? The warm fuzzy feeling began to wear off as Xiaojun thought himself into a spiral. Smelling the change in his scent, Ten turned his face so that he could look at him with concern.

“Are you okay?” His eyebrows wrinkled downwards and the other shook his head softly.

“Did you drug me?” Ten couldn’t help but laugh at the cute wispy voice he spoke in.

“No, baby, you feel so good because I’m putting my charm on so that you’re not as nervous,” the smile fell from his face, a serious expression replacing it. “Do you want me to stop? I thought it would help.”

Xiaojun felt the room become less hazy, and his senses slunk back into clarity and anxiousness and fear. He quickly grabbed a hold of Ten’s arm around his shoulder, gripping tightly.

“No, no, no, I need the fuzzy. Please. I don’t want to freak out,” Ten just nodded softly in acknowledgement before carding a hand through the other’s hair tenderly.

“Okay, baby,” as he spoke, the warmth sunk back into Xiaojun’s skin, “I want you to feel comfortable. You’re so good to me, let me know if something hurts okay?” he lulled out, entrancing the boy farther.

Xiaojun nodded softly, letting his eyes flutter close as he relaxed back into Ten’s sturdy arms. He felt the other’s breath on his cheek while he continued to stroke through his hair. Honestly, he couldn’t remember the last time he had felt so calm and at peace. Xiaojun was often stressed and worried, and the peace Ten was currently bringing him could become dangerously addicting.

The soft breath he felt on his cheek, moved slowly up to his ear where a chaste kiss was placed there on his cartilage. Xiaojun couldn’t help the tiny puff of a gasp that left his mouth at the surprising touch. Ten chuckled lowly under his breath.

“Sorry, you’re just so cute,” his voice sounded deeper, more provocative and predatory than earlier. His eyes slowly blinked open as Ten adjusted them further back on the bed, leaning up against Xiaojun’s headboard where his pillows were stacked.

He was laying comfortably in the other’s lap, head tilted to the side, exposed for Ten’s taking. When he felt the breath and the press of cold lips against the hollow of his neck, Xiaojun felt a need to voice his concern once more.

“Remember, this is just because you saved m-my life. O-one time th-thing,” he whispered out, not worried about speaking up because he figured Ten would be able to hear him anyways.

“A onetime thing,” he felt the vibrations of the other’s voice on his neck where his lips were pressed.

A moment or two passed where Xiaojun was so relaxed in this man’s arms who was still practically a stranger. He stared up at his ceiling fan that was turning slowly. It rotated once. Twice. And halfway around the third time, Ten bit. Sharp fangs sunk into the soft skin of his neck, opening up two perfect holes which his blood rushed out from.

The first thing Xiaojun felt was pain, but that was only there for a few seconds. His body tensed up in Ten’s arms at the initial bite, causing the vampire to grab him securely and hold him still while he drank. Feeling Ten’s tongue trace the delicate skin between where the two punctures were, calmed him again, and it felt as if a fire of euphoria was spreading its way from his neck downwards throughout the rest of his body.

If there was any tension left in his body, the more it seeped out of him the more the vampire drank. His head was completely relaxed backwards onto Ten’s shoulder, his body gone slack as he closed his eyes shut and embraced the feeling.

Ten’s hand was still in his hair, no longer combing its way through the soft caramel strands, but instead cradling his head delicately.

Wow, this felt good.

A hand began to trace its way down Xiaojun’s left side to grasp lightly at his hip to pull him further back into the other’s lap, before wrapping the rest of its way around his petite waist. He felt the fangs leave his neck and almost let out a whine of protest before he felt them sink back in again, slightly below where they had pierced first.

When they entered his neck this time, he couldn’t help but to let out a very genuine and guttural moan. The feeling was intoxicating and Xiaojun couldn’t even find it in himself to care that he could feel Ten’s smirk against his neck. The feeling of being held so tenderly in such a vulnerable position was something he had never experienced before.

He had really laid his life in the hands of this man, this vampire, which he barely knew. As Ten continued to lap at his skin and caress his head Xiaojun knew he was in trouble.

Soon, much too soon, the vampire pulled away and began to trace his tongue over the holes he had left behind. 

As he gently continued to lick the blood clean from his neck, Xiaojun found his senses slowly coming back to him, and boy, was he embarrassed. He could feel the heat rocket its way up his neck and face, and with all the blood he probably just lost, he was surprised he could still blush so fiercely.

“Okay, I’m good,” Xiaojun mumbled out, trying to shove the vampire off of his neck, but Ten caught his hands in a tight hold, before they could even get close to him. He turned to look at the other and saw how bright red his eyes had become.

“You taste delicious, baby,” Ten rasped lowly, obviously affected by what had just happened. Did all vampires get like that? Also he tasted good? Why did that strangely turn him on? Oh no.

“Okay, I’m done. You’re done. You can go. Don’t forget I only did this because I owed you,” Xiaojun rushed out, his words blending into each other, while he shifted out of his lap. Scooting back away from him, the vampire stretched his arms above his head, and closed his eyes smiling. When he opened them, they were a deep pitch black like the first night they had met. He raked his gaze over Xiaojun, pausing to smirk.

“You seemed to enjoy yourself though,” Ten added with a wink and a quick flash of his eyes back downwards. Looking down to see what he meant, Xiaojun began to pray to every god, spirit, and even demon out there for the world to swallow him whole.

He had a boner.

Of course he did.

He quickly grabbed his blanket on his bed and covered himself, moving so quickly that the room spun a bit. He had to grab his head and breathe deeply.

“Whoa there,” Ten crawled over towards him to rub his back lightly, “you just lost a lot of blood. Take it easy. Do you have any food in your fridge you want me to get you? Any juice?”

“Juice,” he nodded and the other shot up and got a glass of orange juice faster than Xiaojun could even blink twice. Seeing the confused and slightly scared look on his face as Ten outstretched the full glass to the other, he chuckled.

“Sorry, after I drink it’s basically like I just had ten shots of espresso. Get it? Ten?” He paused eyeing the other, waiting for the pun to sink in before continuing, “So I’m extra speedy and wired,” he giggled cutely. So cutely that Xiaojun also found himself smiling before taking the glass to take a few sips of the orange juice.

“Thank you,” Ten hummed in response, eyes darting around the room before settling back on the boy in front of him.

“I meant it when I said you taste good,” Xiaojun choked lightly on his juice before averting his eyes and gulping the rest down in order to avoid having to speak. “And don’t be embarrassed about getting turned on, it happens more often than you think,” Ten sent him another wink. Xiaojun actually choked this time, and the vampire reached over to lightly pat his back helping him to breathe.

“Uh, okay, cool,” Ten just nodded and sent him a thumbs up.

“Okay! Well thank you again for letting me suck your blood,” he began to walk backwards, towards the door before he paused snapping his fingers, “oh! I forgot!” He stalked into the kitchen and pulled out another glass before biting into his own wrist and letting the contents trickle into the cup.

“I’m sorry, what is happening?” Xiaojun squeaked out at the vulgar sight. Ten brought his wrist back up to his lips and licked the wound lightly.

“You can drink this if you want those marks on your neck to go away faster!” He smiled at the other on the bed.

“Drink your blood?”

“Yup! It’s what I gave you the first night to help you heal,” Xiaojun sputtered, while Ten looked completely unbothered and even brought his phone out to check something on it. Wait, vampires have phones?

“Okay, I really gotta go now! Thanks Dejun- or Xiaojun!” And with that the door flew open and shut tightly right behind the vampire in a flurry of movement, leaving Xiaojun in a state of total confusion.

What the hell had just happened?

Xiaojun sat on his bed; empty glass of orange juice still clasped in his hand and tried to process the events that had just unfurled.

Okay, he had let a vampire drink his blood. Sure, he owed him that much after all he had done to save Xiaojun. Had it felt amazing and was he already thinking of the next time he could possibly do that again? Yes.

Where had Xiaojun gone, and what non-scaredy cat person had replaced him?

He shook his head lightly back and forth and stretched his neck from side to side, wincing slightly. Okay, the bite definitely didn’t feel great after the fact. Reaching up, he gently felt the area on his neck and noticed that the holes had already closed up. He really should have asked Ten more questions about this all.

Scooting off his bed, Xiaojun walked across the room and stood in front of his full length mirror to actually see what damage had been done. He could easily see where the two spots Ten had bitten into him were, one slightly above the other.

The bite marks were puckered and bright red, almost looking like a scar he would have had his whole life, and there was no trace of blood left to be seen. He suddenly got hit with a wave of absolute fear. He… he wouldn’t turn into a vampire now, would he? Tenderly setting the empty glass down on the floor, Xiaojun padded over into his kitchen to look at the other glass Ten had left behind.

It was one of his old plastic cups, and he might have been having a bit of an out of body experience seeing it full of vampire blood rather than milk. Gingerly raising it to his nose, Xiaojun smelt the substance slightly. Scrunching his nose up, he set the cup back down. He didn’t know what he was expecting, but truly, it just smelt like blood.

What had Ten said? To drink it if he wanted the marks to go away faster, right? Did that mean they would go away on their own? Sighing deeply, he leaned his elbows onto the counter, pressing his cheek into the cold countertop. He really should have gotten more details.

Xiaojun stared at the cup, frowning, willing it to replace itself with something that made more sense. After mulling it over, he decided to risk it and just wait for the marks to go away. He could wear thin turtle necks under his work uniform, and it was definitely cold enough for scarves in the first place.

He grabbed the cup and looked to the refrigerator and then to the sink, debating whether or not to keep it or dump it. Whatever, he thought grumpily as he opened his fridge to place the cup on the top shelf next to his carton eggs.

Oh yes, the essentials. Eggs, milk, and vampire blood!

Xiaojun busied himself with making dinner, trying not to get too overwhelmed in his thoughts of Ten and of everything that had happened to him tonight.

His night proceeded normally. Making ramen, sitting down to watch his nightly show, and showering before snuggling up in his bed.

The only difference is that he caught himself time and time again reaching up to stroke his fingers across the scars left by the vampire bite. He almost felt compelled to go out into the night and search again for Ten to demand answers or at least to just talk to him more. The calming feeling of his presence was addicting. In fact, everything about him was addicting.

And Xiaojun wanted more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments and kudos make my day~


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW// drinking in excess

shouldn’t have woken up well rested and right when his alarm had gone off. He had had a near death experience, became indebted to a vampire, invited said vampire into his HOME, and then may or may not have let him suck his blood.

Waking up the next morning, everything had felt like a dream; and considering the kind of dreams Xiaojun had been having recently, it was easy to ignore the tight feeling in his neck. He went about his morning as usual by staying put in the hot water of the shower for a few minutes too long, before throwing his work garb on and trudging into his kitchen to make himself a small breakfast. 

See, this was a normal morning, fuzzy workday brain and all. However that changed when the shock of seeing a cup of real ass vampire blood next to his milk truly registered to Xiaojun.

“Shit!” Xiaojun gasped, losing his footing as he backpeddled and clung awkwardly with one hand to his open fridge door to stay balanced. Everything came crashing back down on him.

Yes, that had really happened.

No, it most certainly wasn’t a dream.

The fact that Xiaojun enjoyed the experience was something he had spent the night attempting to bury deep within his psyche and ignore entirely. In fact, he had deluded himself into believing that he had made everything up! Of course, that did become infinitely harder to accept when there was a cup of Ten’s blood still in his refrigerator.

Xiaojun reached up to rub his eyes harshly, hoping to be rid of the sight that smacked reality back into him when they reopened. Of course, that didn’t happen. He gulped deeply before tenderly probing the area on his neck where Ten had bitten him. Not feeling any scabbing, he immediately pushed down to probe it a bit more and felt the dull ache of a bruise.

Walking in disbelief over to his full length mirror, Xiaojun spotted two small puckers of pink skin, with a deep purpling bruise patterned around them. Thinking back to the night before, he remembered the feeling of two small scars, but Ten had said it would heal, right? He definitely forgot to mention that it would look like a damn hickey in the meantime!

He waddled back over to the open fridge door and shut it a bit more harshly than intended, as he sighed out exasperatedly. Pulling out his phone, Xiaojun checked the weather app, closing out the few notifications from Hendery he had.

Well, at least it was cold out.

Xiaojun stood behind the counter at work, finding himself constantly adjusting, and readjusting the thin white turtleneck he sported under his given work outfit. He knew there was no possible way the marks could be spotted, but you could never be too careful.

No matter how hard he tried to be attentive to the customer’s orders or to make sure to use almond instead of skim milk, Xiaojun found his mind wandering to the night before. And it wasn’t just the experience itself, but also to Ten. Being here in this small worthless coffee shop after everything he had experienced and learnt in just one night? He was more than a little scared he’d become addicted to the feeling.

The minutes and hours of working seemed to tick by at an uneven rate. When he was lost in thought about Ten, hours passed like minutes; when he was stuck in a flurry of orders, minutes passed like hours.

Cleaning his station Xiaojun wondered, had he even truly paid Ten back for saving him? I mean, honestly. This guy, or- vampire- had saved his life, given him his own immortal vampire blood to heal him, had left him with a euphoric feeling void of all his anxieties and even more vampire blood when Xiaojun had tried to pay him back.

For all Xiaojun knew, that could be worth millions! Honestly, it probably is. Real vampire blood? Like, come on.

If he still owed Ten, should he try and seek him out again? His hand came to a halt while he was wiping the counter. Was he really debating spending even more time with a vampire?

But… he _really_ hated owing people. And that’s all it was. Xiaojun refused to ever have any debts. He definitely did not want to see Ten again for curiosity and slightly horny reasons.

No. Definitely not.

How did one go about seeking out a vampire, anyways? Xiaojun thought back to the first time he saw the gorgeous man. They had been far on the outskirts of town, way after the sun had set, and he basically had almost gotten himself killed. Okay, he definitely wasn’t planning on doing that again. The likelihood of him even seeing Ten again out there was slim to none. Hadn’t Ten mentioned that he had been out to get some blood and that he wasn’t able to or something?

That brought him back to the second time, near the blood bank, or _Ematici,_ as Ten had called it. Xiaojun wondered how he hadn’t even known the name of the place that had scared him for years now. He headed to the back of the coffee shop, past the small storage room, to throw the dirty rag into a pile where they kept them.

Xiaojun sighed as he turned to stare at the giant pile of full trash bags. It was his turn to take them out, and he always hated it, especially having to do it at the end of the day because the sun would start to go down around that time.

_Wait_. His movement stuttered as he went to reach for the first bag as a thought struck him. If he wanted to see Ten again, he’d most definitely have to go out after dark. This was basically a requirement.

“Well, Xiaojun,” he muttered out to himself, slinging the bag across his back to carry out, “have to overcome your fear at some point, don’t ya?”

To say Hendery was surprised would be a vast understatement. His best friend’s voice rang shrilly from the other side of the phone, so loudly that Xiaojun had to quickly yank it away from his ear lest he wanted to become deaf.

“I’M SORRY, WHAT?!” The screaming from his friend continued. Xiaojun let out a deep sigh.

“I said, do you want to go out to dinner with me tonight?” Rustling could be heard from the other side of the phone before Yangyang’s voice came through.

“I think I’m losing it. It sounded like you invited us to go out to dinner after the sun had set. Y’know, where there could be vampires? A.k.a your biggest fear, a.k.a. the most anxiety inducing moment of the day for you, a.k.a. when you- oof.”

“But wait, really? Will you hang out with us now?” Hendery’s voice took back over as a soft ‘Dery that hurt’ could be heard from the background.

“I mean, yeah. I want to, you know, try it. Going out at night, I mean.” Xiaojun scratched the back of his head while pacing in his apartment. He expected them to be surprised, but honestly he had also figured that they would readily accept his invitation. Yet the doubt in their voices had him reconsidering. Was he going too far to see Ten again?

“Maybe you guys are right. I shouldn’t push it, huh?” He forced a laugh out before swallowing his disappointment.

“No, no, no! We really miss you Junnie! Pleeeaaaase hang out with us again,” Hendery begged, the pout audible in his voice. “We just want to make sure you’re okay with it. Yeah, we’re a little surprised, but we want to see you for sure!”

“Yeah, hang out with us!” Yangyang yelled from the background. “We’ll call up Lucas, too! I know the perfect dinner spot.”

Xiaojun smiled into the phone. He would be able to see his friends more often, and hopefully he would run into Ten again too.

To, you know, repay him. Two birds with one stone.

Yangyang sent over the address in their group chat after getting confirmation from Lucas that he would join them too. It apparently was a small café diner that Lucas claimed was “perfect for instagram pictures.” Xiaojun snorted at that.

An hour or so later, he was dressed up and ready to see his friends. After dark.

He exhaled a shaky breath. He could do this. Thinking of Ten, the hypnotizing allure of his presence still palpable in his mind, was the driving force that finally helped him to exit his small apartment and start on his journey to the café.

Thankfully, Xiaojun wasn’t the first person there. Lucas was sat at a table in the back of the simply decorated and pastel colored café. The bigger waved him down as soon as he spotted him. Giving him a big hug, he picked Xiaojun up from the ground a little, Lucas greeted the smaller.

“Xiaojun! I can’t believe it! I hope this means we get to hang out more often now,” he rambled on. Simply nodding in response, Xiaojun looked around the room to take note of the exits and where the bathroom was, while Lucas continued on about his day or week, or... something.

The café really was very aesthetically pleasing. The front wall by the entrance had giant windows with wooden paneling which would have let the sunlight in, had there been any. Instead it gave Xiaojun the perfect view of the darkness of the night, the street only lit up by the occasional street lamp and the passing lights of cars.

He could do this.

And did it, he did. Hendery and Yangyang joined the two not long after and they all ordered a drink to toast to Xiaojun’s newfound bravery. He was only pestered slightly for his change of heart, and the youngest made fun of him for wearing a ‘super gay turtleneck’ which Hendery then lightly slapped the back of his head for saying. Lucas pacified him, saying he looked cute in the tight beige patterned sweater.

However, engaging in the conversation was a bit harder than Xiaojun thought it would have been. Especially once he realized that going out to dinner probably wasn’t the best place to run into Ten again. Considering he didn’t even eat food.

“Stupid,” he muttered under his breath as the realization struck him mid meal.

“Huh?” Hendery questioned, pausing whatever story he had been telling.

“Oh nothing, sorry.”

Hendery picked up where he had left off while Xiaojun continued to plot. He had definitely jumped the gun. Sure he had gone outside after dark, but he had to be smarter than that. Where would Ten be? Looking up, he made eye contact with Hendery after he finished his sentence to make a declaration.

“I want to go out with you guys this weekend.” Lucas audibly gasped, a hand coming up to cover his mouth. “Take me to a club.”

So that weekend, Xiaojun found himself dolled up and in one of his friend’s favorite clubs. Apparently, it’s where all the cutest boys were. Too bad they didn’t know that he was only looking for one specific boy/vampire.

Of course, it would have been too easy had Xiaojun ran into Ten that weekend. Stumbling into his apartment after the night out, a little too drunk, he plopped onto the couch. He’d have to try harder.

After that weekend, it became a regular occurrence for Xiaojun to ask his friends to go out with him on the weekends, and sometimes even during the week days. He had asked his boss, Kun, to be put permanently on trash duty; now he was always the one to go out to the dumpster alone in the dark. Most days, he would find himself purposefully staying behind to help Kun out just so that when he walked past the blood bar, it was sure to be dark out. Sometimes even going so far as to loiter outside and play around on his phone for several minutes before giving up and sulking the rest of the way home.

Dreaming about Ten was still a regular occurrence. Instead of the vaguely threatening and scary demeanor the dreams used to carry, they now were drenched in curiosity, lust, and wanting. Xiaojun now knew what it felt like to be touched by Ten, cared for and caressed.

His life had been lacking in intimacy for longer than he cared to admit, and that’s probably most of the reason why he couldn’t shake his want for the vampire. I mean, you’d have to be blind to not recognize how attractive he was.

Also, he still owed the vampire his life. That was what Xiaojun would repeat over and over to himself when he was feeling a bit too desperate to see the other once again. He owed Ten, and maybe if he wanted to take some more of his blood, that would be fine too.

I mean, that’s basically all he could even do for the vampire, so. Yeah. It’s normal to want to repay a sexy vampire by giving him your blood to drink.

The hickey-like bruise that had been left from the last visit of Ten, was almost completely gone now. He wasn’t joking when he had said Xiaojun would probably want to drink the blood to make the marks go away faster. It had been nearly two and a half weeks and his skin was still puckered in two small marks where he had gotten his blood from. He was loathe to admit it, but Xiaojun was dreading the day the marks would disappear entirely. It was almost like Ten would just be lost in his memory, as if these past several weeks had never happened at all.

Xiaojun found himself in a hot and cold relationship with the internet as he searched for answers on how to find a vampire. Every time he would find one helpful thing, he would find a hundred baseless “facts” to match. The few helpful forums he found after the first time he had met Ten, he’d already scoured through countless times.

Most people had a plethora of ideas and ways to prevent or get rid of a vampire, but there was significantly less information on how to attract one besides just letting yourself bleed out in a back alley, that is. (Which was genuinely one of the suggestions.)

So he found himself stuck in a loop.

Working late, going out during the week and weekend as often as he could, and even resorting to taking a few walks under the moonlight in the nearby park. After one of these walks, Xiaojun had gone back home with no luck once again. He took a quick shower, and readied himself for bed. Checking his phone before he dozed off, he noticed their friend group chat had several messages. It was probably about where they would go this weekend. Xiaojun’s mood lifted; maybe this weekend would finally be the one.

Opening the chat, he definitely was not expecting what he saw.

_xiaojun instead of going out this weekend why dont we have a night in at our apartment? we can make dinner and play games or something! – **Hendery**_

_OMG I HAVE THE BEST GAME IDEA – **Lucas**_

Xiaojun let a disappointed frown settle on his face as he quickly typed back.

_I’d rather go out again. I thought you guys loved going out anyways?? – **Xiaojun**_

A small typing bubble popped up.

_well we love going out ya but dont you think you’ve been out a bit to much? – **Hendery**_

_ITS LIKE CHARADES BUT DRUNK – **Lucas**_

_You always wanted me to go out before, tho? I thought I was just doing what you guys always did anyways. – **Xiaojun**_

_Xiao ur like addicted to going out and it seems like you don’t even like hanging out with us ur mind is always somewhere else it sucks – **Yangyang**_

_uhh haha so no charades?- **Lucas**_

_were worried about you junnie_ _L_ _- **Hendery** _

Xiaojun scoffed and stared at his phone. First they’re worried about him never getting out and being scared of the dark, and now they’re worried about him going out too much? The irony was definitely not lost on him.

_Don’t worry about me. I’ll just go out alone then._ Xiaojun sent before he turned the group chat on silent and put his phone face down to flop onto the other side of his bed. He knew he was pouting and probably shouldn’t have been so short with them, but damn! He finally conquered his fear of going out and they’re already ditching him? He scoffed, burying his nose into his pillow. Whatever, he had spent plenty of time alone for so long; he could easily do it again.

Come Saturday night, Xiaojun found himself on the way to one of the clubs in the heart of the city, not too far from where he worked during the weekdays. This club definitely wasn’t in the gay district where his friends had usually taken him; it was in the heart of the city night life. He didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of it earlier. Just because he himself was gay and was super attracted to Ten didn’t mean the vampire was gay too. It was presumptuous of him to think so. So, for the first time in his life, Xiaojun was on his way to a straight club.

He’d worn his nice leather jacket and one of his only two pairs of non-skinny jeans, but still didn’t skip putting in his small earrings and adding the smallest smudge of eyeliner. Just because it was a straight bar it didn’t mean he had to go in looking like a mess; he was sure the straight men there would do enough of that for him.

His taxi dropped him off at the corner next to the line to get into the club that was already much longer than what Xiaojun was used to. Honestly, it made sense, since there were significantly more straight people than gay people in general.

Joining the back of the line, Xiaojun pulled out his phone to mess around on a bit while he waited. He quickly deleted the individual messages from Hendery, Yangyang, and Lucas he had gotten on the journey over of them reaching out to him. They hadn’t really spoken the past few days since they had their sort of fight in the group chat. Sure, the problem could easily be solved, but for some reason Xiaojun was still feeling petty. If he thought too hard about it, it was because he knew they were right.

He found himself lulled in and obsessed over what he had feared for forever. He was a walking contradiction. It was pathetic. Xiaojun stared down at his phone screen, his plain background of a stock image sunset looking back at him mockingly.

Should he just go back home? What was he doing here anyways?

Xiaojun looked up, noting he was much closer to the front of the line now. It definitely didn’t feel worth it anymore. Right as he had resolved to leave the line, and catch a cab back home to apologize to his friends, he spotted two men going up to the bouncer and immediately getting let in.

The smaller of the two had dark black, sheen hair, ears littered with piercings and was pale as moonlight. Was it… no way. Xiaojun shook his head. There was no way he was going to luck out like this.

Could he really go home now and not find out if it was him though? Xiaojun shoved his phone back in his pocket as he reached the bouncer to pull out his ID and the small amount of money that was the cover charge to get into the club. Feeling a new sense of purpose, Xiaojun quickly stepped through into the club after getting the okay from the guard, determined to find him.

There was a large dance floor directly in the center, a bar on either side of the bottom floor, and a staircase leading up to two separate balconies with bars up there as well. To say he was overwhelmed was an understatement. The few booths and tables scattered on the outskirts of the room were full, and Xiaojun had to squeeze himself through the throngs of people grinding together to reach the far wall to grab himself a drink. It took awhile before he was finally noticed, but he quickly ordered a whiskey sour, and downed it in three big gulps. He needed the liquid courage. Now, where to start?

Xiaojun noticed that one of the balconies seemed to be roped off like some kind of VIP area. Assuming that if some powerful vampire went to a bar that’s where he would be, he quickly headed to the other open stair case to climb to the second story.

At the top of the railing, he could see directly across to where there were a few people sat in the private section. Even though the lights were dimmed and the strobes of the dance floor were constantly flashing, he recognized the back of the head of the guy from earlier. The guy who was maybe not a guy at all. The guy who he couldn’t get out of his mind no matter what he did. Okay, but how the hell did he get over there or get his attention?

The balcony section had a few small poles where some of the party goers were grinding up against while others sat nearby laughing heartily. Xiaojun crossed to the upstairs bar and sat at the only empty stool in the corner.

Surprisingly, the bartender came over to him quite quickly. He was a bigger, gruff looking man with a contradicting polite smile.

“Can I get you something to drink?”

“Uh,” Xiaojun stuttered slightly. A bit afraid of the bulky man, he didn’t want to sit here and not order anything. “Yeah, a whiskey sour please.”

“Single or a double?”

“Single, please,” he said, receiving a slight nod from the man as he walked away to begin making his drink. Xiaojun turned his focus back to the balcony on the other side of the bar. It was roped off from the ground where the stairs were and also in the back where the two balconies met above the dance floor. Maybe he could somehow sneak over? Or just call his name loud enough that he would hear and turn to him? Didn’t Ten say he had great hearing anyways?

“Here ya go,” the bartender dropped his drink off and Xiaojun thanked him politely before sliding a few bills across the counter to pay for the drink. The man looked him over once before glancing to the other side of the club. “Staring at the VIPs?” Xiaojun lightly choked on the first sip of his drink.

“What makes you say that?” He wheezed out, trying not to completely give himself away. The worker chuckled to himself as Xiaojun took a bigger drink to hide the embarrassing blush he had across his face.

“You’ve been staring over there since you sat down,” the man smirked. “I’m Jason, by the way.” Xiaojun looked at him with confusion. Why was he introducing himself?

“Uh, I’m Xiaojun.” Jason nodded and looked over to the VIP area again before pointing with his hand to an area near the ropes on the balcony.

“That’s where the VIPs go to the bathroom, so if you’re trying to meet somebody I’d keep an eye out for when they go there.” Xiaojun looked at him with wide eyes. Why was he helping him?

“Thank you… I’m-“ Jason held up his hand to cut him off.

“I get it, I don’t need to know. If you came all the way to a straight bar to find someone, it must be important.” He winked before walking away, leaving Xiaojun completely in shock and embarrassed to his toes. Was he that obvious? Maybe the eyeliner was a bit much…

Eyes glued to the back of, Ten’s head possibly, Xiaojun sat and waited. He ordered another drink in the process and talked a bit to Jason in the meantime. He was extremely nice and also gay, he had told Xiaojun. He said he worked in this bar Saturday nights only because it was always busy and he almost always made good tips, which Xiaojun found interesting.

“But, how do you deal with all the girls drooling over you,” he muttered to Jason as he pointedly looked down the bar to two girls who were leaning over the counter, breasts heaving out of their shirts, and making googly eyes at the bartender. Jason laughed loudly at that.

“Hey, I don’t mind. If they think they have a chance with me, I get more tips,” he added a wink for emphasis that caused Xiaojun to let out a strangled giggle in surprise. After calming down from his giggle attack, he turned back around and saw who he was pretty sure was Ten finally stand up and head towards where Jason had said the restrooms were. He slammed back the rest of his drink and turned to face the bartender.

“Okay, wish me luck,” Xiaojun gulped deeply. Jason sent him a thumbs up before turning to attend to the girls who were waiting.

Standing up off of the barstool, Xiaojun quickly brushed his hands along his pants trying to straighten out the creases and ran shaky hands through his unstyled hair to fluff it up a bit. Every step he took closer to the bathrooms brought a new level of anxiety rushing over him. Had he built up the tension between them? The way Ten had looked at him, was it all in Xiaojun’s head?

What if Ten didn’t even recognize him? How embarrassing would that be; he would never live that down. Shaking his hands trying to calm his nerves, before wiping them on his pants since they were getting a little sweaty, which was just plain gross, Xiaojun approached the upstairs bathrooms.

He put a hand on the door and paused before opening it. What if Ten was pooping? What was he going to do? Just sit there and wait for him to come out like some kind of weirdo? What would he look like then? Like, hi sorry I don’t know if you remember me, but you sucked my blood a couple weeks ago, and saved my life a few weeks before that, and I’ve been looking for you and once I saw you come this way, I just stood here and listened to you take a shit so I could talk to you again?

He shook his head trying to realign himself with the aloof and stubborn Xiaojun, begging his nerves to go away and his old confidence to replace them.

Apparently he had taken too long, lost in his anxiety; because the door opened where he still had a hand leant against it, waiting to push. So, of course, Xiaojun lost his balance and tripped embarrassingly forward into the man’s arms.

His eyes shot down to see the thin but strong arms that caught his own tan ones. Swallowing and bracing himself, Xiaojun looked up unsure if he would see black obsidian or blood red staring back at him.

Instead, his gaze was met with the sight of dull brown eyes. The dullest, most plain brown eyes he had ever seen. Xiaojun scanned the man’s face to find an ordinary looking person. His outfit was definitely expensive, and his hair and accessories were nice, but he was no Ten.

He wasn’t Ten.

“Uh, dude, can you, like stand up or something? This is getting weird.” Xiaojun cleared his throat and stood up letting the other man go before shuffling to the side, so he could leave the bathroom.

“Sorry.” The man looked at him awkwardly before shaking his head and walking away.

Xiaojun stood there in the open bathroom door, his eyes losing focus as he stared straight ahead into the restroom. Walking forward, he headed immediately for a stall and went inside to sit down on top of the toilet lid. At least this was a nice, clean place to cry, and so Xiaojun did. Cry, that is.

He was a fool. An absolute fool. His friends were right; he definitely needed to stop going out. He had gotten too far into his head. Drowning himself in vampire conspiracies and feelings that were created by Ten’s influence and venom. Ten was a vampire for fucks sake! Of course he was charming!

He and Ten didn’t have some kind of otherworldly attraction and attachment. Their run-ins had been coincidental. Ten was just a good guy who had helped Xiaojun, and Xiaojun had repaid him. Just because you ran into someone twice doesn’t make it fate.

Droplets rolled down his cheeks, collecting on his chin before dropping to make small puddles on the tops of his hands. He breathed out a sigh and tsked at himself. What an idiot.

You’re in a straight bar, after ditching your friends, then being an asshole to your friends, just because you wanted to see someone who you mean nothing to. He brought his hands up to wipe aggressively at his eyes, knowing his eyeliner must be a smudged mess now. Xiaojun needed to apologize, and he needed to get himself together.

At least he had overcome his fear of the dark. He laughed sarcastically at the thought. It only took becoming obsessed with the thing that made him fear it in the first place.

Would he have been the same with any vampire? Xiaojun thinks so. It was the enticing demeanor, the instant spell their power put over humans. …Wasn’t it?

He shut out the doubt immediately, shaking his head. Of course it was.

He rubbed his eyes a couple more times before standing up and wiping his hands on his pants, before heading out of the stall to access the damage he had done to his makeup. Looking in the mirror, Xiaojun looked like a puffy raccoon. Groaning loudly, he reached to grab a soft paper towel before wetting it to bring it to his eyes to try and clean up as much of the evidence as he could.

The bathroom door opened and two guys walked in, talking about some sexy girl who was ‘dancing on that one stripping pole by the bar.’ They marched straight over to the urinals, and Xiaojun took that as his cue to head out.

He didn’t need two guys to give him weird looks for crying in the men’s bathroom. He had already felt bad enough.

His eyes were fixated on the ground as he dragged his feet back over to the bar where Jason was working. The seat he had been in was still empty, so he quickly sat down and placed his hands on the bar. Xiaojun didn’t see when Jason came over to him to check how it all went because he was too busy staring at his clasped hands and willing his eyes to stay dry.

“Not good, huh?”

Xiaojun snapped his head up at the interruption to his thoughts. Jason’s face was marked with genuine sympathy and concern. Shaking his head, he turned his gaze down to his hands once more.

“Okay, well, shots it is!” The bartender announced. Xiaojun tried to say no, and tell him that he was going to go home now, but Jason said they were on the house, and honestly this was probably the last time he was going to ever go out to a club. So, he did the only coping mechanism he knew and had ever had any success with, drink himself into a hole.

The first couple of shots stung going down, but it was much easier for Xiaojun to deal with the stinging of alcohol than the stinging of tears.

When the tequila started to taste like water, and his conversation skipped from topic to topic, he knew he was a goner. Honestly at this point he wondered if he would even be able to focus long enough to get a ride. Well, he was only, like, two miles away from his apartment wasn’t he? Three miles? Why had he taken a taxi in the first place? He should save money. And the planet. Cars suck.

Jason tapped on the top of Xiaojun’s head that had been resting on the bar while he was devising a way to take down all cars and stop global warming.

“Hey! I was about to stop global warming!” Xiaojun pointed at the bartender accusingly, who just laughed in response.

“It’s closing time. You have to leave now Xiaojun.”

“Oh,” he stared in response before he fumbled to retrieve his phone from his back pocket. Pressing the unlock button he squinted to read the number of the time. Wait, did that say three a.m.?

“Did you want to call your friends to pick you up?” Jason was finishing cleaning the bar. As he looked around, Xiaojun noticed the club was empty. Like, **empty** empty. When did that happen?

“Where are the people?” The bartender laughed again.

“We’re closed now, everyone goes to 24/7 restaurants or to the seedy bars that stay open until five a.m. around this time.” Xiaojun just nodded in response, mouth slightly open. “So, your friends? Are they coming? I saw you texting quite passionately thirty minutes or so ago.”

Had Xiaojun been texting?

“No, I only live close to nearby. Wait,” he realized the words he just said didn’t make sense as Jason placed a glass of water in front of him.

“Here, drink that and then we’ll call your friends okay?” Nodding, he gulped the water down. Setting the empty glass back down, Xiaojun remembered again! No cars! Global Warming!

“WAIT! NO! Sorry, that was a loud no,” the smaller pointed at the bartender who was staring in amusement. “I’m walking home because of global warming. We need to save the planet, ‘cause, like, we’re fucked,” Xiaojun’s eyes widened in genuine worry.

Jason just shook his head, and proceeded to try and get Xiaojun’s phone to call his friends. After some back and forth, the bartender decided to just go ahead and call a cab for him. Going to the back to gather his things, he told Xiaojun to stay put and he’d help him get to the cab and pay for it, but that wasn’t what he wanted! Maybe if he walked home he’d run into Ten. Hmm, Ten.

His thoughts meandered to Ten and how attractive and kind the vampire seemed. Xiaojun got up from the bar and descended the stairs to exit the club.

As he left, the cool air whipped around him and, _wow,_ that breeze felt nice. He took a left right out of the club and walked the short distance to the corner of the block. Looking up at the street sign, he squinted and swayed lightly while trying to place where he was.

Oh right! He knew this street! If you went a couple blocks over, that’s where he worked, and then he could definitely get home from there. After all, he walked from work to home ten times a week! This was perfect.

Xiaojun began humming as he waited for the little green man to pop up, signaling that he was clear to walk on. He took on a little skip across the street and proceeded down the block, which he was pretty sure, was the right way.

A few people were walking along the sidewalk too, traffic virtually nonexistent at this time was a sight to see. Xiaojun had never seen the street so empty before.

Finally, he got to the street that he knew his work building was on. He knew where he was! Yay! It hadn’t taken long at all! Or maybe he was just drunk and didn’t know how much time had passed. Gigging to himself, Xiaojun looked up at the street lights. They were slightly blurry, and honestly looked really pretty. Almost like Christmas lights. He couldn’t wait for Christmas.

Staring up he twirled to watch the lights spin, and his eye caught a large neon light that was just as pretty that he was pretty sure he’d never seen before. It said something in a foreign language that with Xiaojun’s fuzzy drunk brain he was unable to comprehend.

He walked towards it, leaning slightly sideways as he tried to keep his balance. The building had tall glass windows at the front and looked honestly gorgeous. The closer Xiaojun got he realized instead of windows, it was actually a glass door! Wow, so pretty and fancy!

As he was ogling the building and its pretty exterior, a man exited through the door; he was wearing a nice suit and seemed to be angry. He turned around and held up his middle finger to whoever was on the other side of the glass door.

Xiaojun was still a ways away from the building itself, but he felt like maybe he should turn back around and avoid this man. It was late, and he was intoxicated, and this man was obviously upset. The last thing he needed was a pissy man ruining his nice buzz and his enjoyment of the pretty lights.

The man ran his hands through his long hair harshly, tugging the delicately placed strands out of place. For some reason, even though his stomach was swirling with trepidation, Xiaojun was intrigued. Even from far away he looked handsome.

He was no Ten, but he was definitely cute.

Something also felt strangely familiar about him? Or was it about this building? He was close to work, should he know this place? Xiaojun got distracted and looked back up to the building again trying to sound out the name in bright neon lights.

“Are you lost?” Xiaojun’s head snapped down and locked eyes with the man. When had he gotten so close? He could have sworn the man was still down the end of the sidewalk in front of the building; he had only glanced up a few seconds ago…

“Oh, uh, no. I was just trying to read that word,” Xiaojun pointed up towards the neon sign. The man quirked an eyebrow and turned to look at the building.

“It’s Latin, that’s probably why you can’t read it,” he said smugly. Huh, was it some kind of restaurant? He looked back to the man, gaze drifting upwards to make eye contact due to the quite apparent height difference.

“Oh okay, thank you,” Xiaojun nodded his head politely and began to walk past the man, who placed his hand on his shoulder, halting him from moving. This did not feel… right.

“Are you sure you don’t need any help?” Turning back to confirm again with the man that he was fine, they locked eyes once more. Adrenaline caused his blurry thoughts to clear slightly as soon as he really, truly looked at the stranger. Specifically his eyes.

This man had dark red eyes. Not blood shot. His eyes were literally red. Like a vampire. Like this man was a vampire, it was the absolute dead of the night, and no one was around. There was no way his hand-eye coordination skills would be up to par to deal with a vampire considering how inebriated he was.

It’s okay though, right? Ten was a vampire and he had saved him! Xiaojun swallowed as his heart rate picked up the longer the man’s hand lingered on his shoulder. The man tilted his head slightly to one side, as a smirk spread on his lips.

“Why are you nervous, cutie?” Okay, so he definitely was a vampire. Right? Well, Xiaojun did tend to display his feelings all over his face, but how could he tell he had gotten nervous so fast? He took a stuttered step backwards, out of the man’s grasp.

“Sorry, I-I have t-to go,” he choked out the sentence. The man only took a step closer.

“Hm, I’ll take you home! Don’t worry, it’s not safe out here for someone as cute as you,” the man’s eyes reddened and Xiaojun relaxed slightly. It felt as if he had taken four more shots. Of course! This man was nice; he would help him get home! Xiaojun nodded his head and smiled lightly while the man led him down the street.

They walked down the street before turning down a road Xiaojun didn’t recognize, causing a furrow in his brow as he took in his surroundings.

“This isn’t the way I usually go,” he murmured out in confusion. The man laughed loudly and tugged harshly on Xiaojun’s arm, yanking him to continue forward.

“I know where we’re going, don’t worry cutie.”

Xiaojun frowned but didn’t stop following the man’s lead for some reason. Why was he letting this mean man who had just hurt his arm push him around? What was even going on? Didn’t he feel nervous about the man earlier for some reason? He shook his head back and forth trying to gather his thoughts. For some reason every time Xiaojun almost grasped onto what he was trying to remember, it slipped away again.

They stopped in a small side alley with a dumpster and a dead end. He knew this was wrong, and he knew he shouldn’t be here with this man. Finally, he shook the man’s grasp off of him, and stepped backwards several times. It felt like he was moving through water with his delayed responses while his limbs resisted him. The man groaned.

“Dammit, hopefully this is far enough away,” Xiaojun cocked his head at that, trying to piece together what the man was saying. “You smelt extremely drunk, why aren’t you easier to control?”

“Control?” The man stalked towards Xiaojun, who took slow steps backwards until he pressed against the wall. This was wrong. This was so, so wrong. Should he scream? He needed to scream? Why the hell was he frozen still? His vocals chords couldn’t produce a sound, as the man before him let out a low menacing sound resembling a hiss.

“Now don’t go and get all scared and anxious on me now. We’re not far enough away for that bullshit. It’s bad enough you got all spooked right in front of the damn bar.”

Xiaojun’s mind was racing a mile a minute, the more he moved backwards and the more anxious he got, the clearer his thoughts became. It finally clicked. This man was a vampire, and for some reason he had followed him into a dark alleyway. His eyes flitted around the area. It was a dead end, yes, but the distance back to the main road was small and if he ran fast enough and shouted loud enough he could probably get someone’s attention.

Slowly shifting his balance, he prepped himself to make a run for it; inhaling deeply to shout as loud as he possibly could. Xiaojun waited for the man to begin muttering complaints to himself again under his breath before he tried to make a run for it.

“Tried” being the keyword here.

He was able to let out the most pitiful, tiny screech and took three large steps before he was grasped around the waist and mouth, yanked backwards. He was pushed into the wall, much gentler than expected from the vampire.

“Please, shut up. God I’m so thirsty, otherwise I would have thrown your ass to the ground. I can’t afford to lose a single drop since they won’t even let me in that damn bar. ‘Too aggressive’, my ass.” The man’s arm came from around Xiaojun’s waist to grip his hip in one hand, while he still blocked his mouth with the other.

“Now, if I take my hand away, will you be a good blood bag and stay quiet for me?” The vampire rasped out tauntingly. Xiaojun scowled and stared him down only receiving an eye roll in return. “Don’t try to be all big and bad, I can hear your heart rate. I know you’re scared, but damn if you don’t smell delicious,” he leaned in to run his nose up the side of his neck.

The vampire stopped suddenly, completely frozen to the spot almost as if he had turned to stone, when he reached the junction of Xiaojun’s neck and shoulder. The hand covering his mouth let go in order to grab at his jaw harshly and turn his head to the side to expose his neck; the harsh grasp on his hip still steady. Xiaojun sucked a sharp breath in between his teeth at being manhandled. He could hear the man sniffing lightly at his neck.

“So, you let vampires drink from you? I’m surprised you didn’t recognize _Ematici_ then. Or were you just that drunk?” If Xiaojun’s heart could beat any harder, it definitely began to at the vampire’s statement. Of course, that had been the blood bar, and Ten’s marks were still there. A giant neon sign that said, ‘I love getting my blood sucked by monsters!’

“It’s not too recent, though. Are you a little blood bank for just one vampire? Hm, cutie?”

“Shut up,” Xiaojun mumbled out the best he could with the harsh grip still on his jaw. The vampire leaned back up and brought his eyes directly to his, glaring.

“You’ll regret that. I was planning on making it a quick death, but I can make it hurt. I wonder if I’ll be able to taste who your little vampire friend is,” he said licking his lips. “I’ll make sure to tell them how good you tasted, down to the last drop.”

Xiaojun had tuned everything out before he heard the vampire say death. Death? Wouldn’t he just drink from him and let him go?

“B-but, you don’t need that much blood, do you?” The man cackled and finally let go of his jaw, to trace one of his cold fingers down his neck.

“No, I don’t need nearly that much,” he paused, tearing his eyes from Xiaojun’s pulse to lock onto his eyes, “but I want it.” He smiled brightly, his fangs on full view, looking genuinely enthralled.

Xiaojun sucked in a deep breath, his eyes prickling. However, the vampire’s smile left his face as fast as it came, all emotion dropping to be replaced with nonchalance. He began to speak while still maintaining eye contact with Xiaojun.

“You know they kicked me out, so just let me have my dinner. Besides this one has already been marked up before, so he’s probably someone’s whore.”

Xiaojun stared in confusion into the vampire’s eyes. Who the hell was he talking to? The vampire gripped Xiaojun’s neck, pushing his thumb under his chin to lift his face up as he explored his features with a bored expression. He was about to ask the man what he was talking about, when he got his answer.

“What if I told you he was my whore, Minhyung? What would you do then?” A soft melodic voice came from the end of the alley, near the street. Xiaojun’s eyes widened and his jaw would have popped open as well if he was capable of doing so in the moment. He definitely recognized that voice. The vampire, apparently named Minhyung, scoffed.

“You don’t take whores, Ten. Not anymore at least,” his eyebrow arched mockingly, as he finally turned his face from Xiaojun to face the other vampire.

“You’re right,” Ten strolled lazily down the alley, locking eyes with Xiaojun who was finally able to turn his head slightly to see the other vampire. “He’s not my whore, but I was the one who drank from him.”

Minhyung made a disgusted looking face and glanced briefly between the two before letting go of Xiaojun completely. His legs wobbled as he tried to brace himself against the wall, taking the whole situation in.

“You can’t let me have shit, can you?” Ten smirked, cat eyes glinting with humor at the other vampire’s obvious annoyance. “Come onnn, you don’t really care about him do you? You’ve never cared about humans before.” He spat out at Ten, both of their expressions changing into something Xiaojun quite didn’t understand, before Minhyung smiled. “At least let me have a taste. You know I’m starving!”

“And whose fault is that?” Minhyung let out a low hiss, baring his fangs, causing Ten to widen his stance slightly in preparation to defend or attack. “You know if you kill or even drink from him and they find out, they’ll kill you for good this time.”

You could cut the tension with a knife as the two vampires stared into one another’s eyes. Currently, a mental showdown was taking place, and Xiaojun wasn’t sure if a full on physical brawl was about to break out or not. He could hear his pulse rushing in his ears and could only bet it was causing the tension between the two to rise. Willing himself to calm down he took several deep breaths.

Eventually, after what seemed like hours, Minhyung straightened himself back up and sent a scalding glare over to Xiaojun. The vampire’s look alone sent shivers of fear up and down his arms and back.

“Fine. Have a good night with your human blood bag,” Minhyung grunted out before looking at Ten once more, and then disappearing in a blur. Xiaojun stared after the blur and realized just how fast he was. His mouth hung slightly ajar, and he couldn’t believe his dumbass had actually tried to run from him earlier.

Finally turning his eyes to Ten, he took the other in. He was in a tight black shirt and, wait… were those leather pants? Xiaojun felt his heart race for a completely different reason now. The vampire looked better than he had remembered. Ears adorned in black hoops this time, his hair gently lying across his brows, not styled.

He walked over to Xiaojun and gently cupped the side of his face, turning his neck side to side inspecting before he took a step backwards. Ten rested his hands gently on either of the boy’s shoulders, and looked over the rest of his body.

Logistically he knew Ten was just checking to make sure he was okay, but the intense gaze of his eyes roaming over his body brought a bright flush to his neck and cheeks. When they made eye contact again and he noticed how flushed Xiaojun had become, he smiled softly and dropped his hands.

“Imagine that. I saved you again, baby,” Ten spoke sweetly, and boy did it do things to Xiaojun. “What on Earth were you doing that got you into this situation? I thought you hated being outside after dark? Don’t tell me it was your friend’s fault again,” he scowled.

“Ah, no, it’s… it’s kind of a long, and embarrassing, story.” He brought a hand up to ruffle his hair and scratch the back of his neck. Ten raised his wrist to glance at his watch, checking the hour.

“I have time, but first, let’s get you back home.” Xiaojun smiled awkwardly and nodded his head in agreement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments and kudos are the reason why there is sunshine in the world~


	4. Chapter 4

Even after the insane events and adrenaline rollercoaster Xiaojun had taken on, he still was wobbly on his feet and probably more than a little intoxicated. Why did he ever drink? Who even liked alcohol? It was poison. He grumbled under his breath as he shoved his hand into his jeans pocket, fishing out the key to his apartment. Pulling the key out, Xiaojun slightly lost his balance and took an awkward step back, feeling Ten’s hand hold his side to steady him. A blush ran up his cheeks at the touch and he peeked over his shoulder to look at the other. Ten was shooting him a good natured smirk.

“What are you mumbling about, hm?” Dark hair danced as the vampire shook his head lightly in amusement, causing Xiaojun to watch the movement and pout.

“Alcohol sucks.”

Ten let out a bark of a laugh at his statement and leaned around the boy, letting go of his waist, to grab the key from his hand. He quickly stuck the key in the lock in the door opening it before stepping out of the way and gesturing for Xiaojun to enter first.

“I could have done that,” he said and puffed up his chest lightly and entered confidently.

“Of course, baby.”

Xiaojun turned around at the sound of the door clicking closed softly. Ten handed him his key back and took a brief look around the flat as if to reacquaint himself with the space. The vampire headed over to the ratty sofa and sat down before crossing his legs and leaning his head into one hand, gazing at the other.

“So, you decided to not drink the blood I left you? Since the marks are still kind of there,” Xiaojun’s hand shot straight up and rested right on the faint bite marks still left behind.

“Uh, yeah.”

“Why?” He tilted his head, his arm coming down to lie casually across his knee as he looked at Xiaojun curiously.

How on Earth could he explain that he didn’t really want the marks to ever be gone without sounding like a total weirdo and creep? The thought of consciously drinking vampire blood was gross anyways.

“Well, I mean- like, drinking bl- drinking vampire blood, is... like, gross,” he stammered not divulging the whole truth, crossing to the small kitchen and hanging his keys on the nail in the wall.

“Ah, okay.” Ten looked completely unconvinced, but Xiaojun was thankful he didn’t press for more. “So, now you get to explain how you came to be almost killed by who is, indisputably, the most annoying and entitled vampire on the face of the planet.”

Xiaojun continued to hide in the kitchen, messing around with some of the dirty dishes in the sink, before turning to pull down a clean glass to get himself some water.

“Oh, you know,” he turned the tap on he shrugged his shoulders incessantly, “how does one ever come into contact with a situation that threatens their life?” Turning the sink off, he stepped farther into the kitchen, staring at the wall before he waxed poetic. “Dark and setting suns brings about the vampires, or like blood, but I wasn’t bleeding. Sometimes when you just want an alcoholic beverage and then you walk past a blood bar it’s, you know,” _shrug_ “ bound to happen-“

He turned around to spot Ten leaning up against the counter in his kitchen. His arms were crossed as he stared in disbelief at the other, not buying into his rambling. When their eyes locked, he could tell the vampire was no longer interested in the bullshit Xiaojun had been trying to spin.

“I didn’t call you out on the weird way you explained leaving the bite marks, which obviously had more to it than you let on,” he uncrossed his arms and stalked closer, running a hand through his dark hair. “But, Xiaojun, I really need to know how you came to see Minhyung.”

His eyes flashed a deep red, briefly taking over the glossy obsidian Xiaojun had gotten used to.

“You went from almost having a panic attack on the sidewalk because it was dark outside to just walking around in the dark because you felt like it?” Ten let out a sound of disbelief. “I know for a fact there has to be more to your story.”

“Well,” Xiaojun floundered, eyes shifting uncomfortably to the floor, “can we sit down first?”

Ten nodded softly before they walked out of the kitchen to take a seat on either side of Xiaojun’s couch. Pulling his legs up onto the sofa, he wrapped his arms tightly around his knees, facing the vampire directly who lounged with one leg pulled up.

And then, he spilled.

Be it the satisfaction of seeing Ten again, or more likely, the fact that alcohol was still slightly buzzing through his veins, Xiaojun started from the day after Ten had left. He explained how he felt he still owed the vampire for his life and how he tried to figure out an easy way to find him or contact him with no such luck.

Specifically skipping over the parts about wanting to see him for personal reasons, Xiaojun explained that it had started with wanting to be with his friends after dark too. He had overcome his fear of the dark, and in the process, kind of went overboard. Always going out, finding a reason to wander the parks and streets at night. The weight of guilt and sheer embarrassment caused him to tuck his face between his knees when he saw Ten’s frustrated and vaguely disappointed expression.

“So,” he mumbled into his knees, “I found myself super drunk and trying to walk home, and I just ran into him.” Xiaojun looked up, trying to get the most important point across, “I really wasn’t trying to seek out some weird vampire hookup or anything! It was just coincidence!” Ten sighed.

“Well, good thing it was also a coincidence I was visiting my friend tonight, then.” Huh, vampire friends. Xiaojun hadn’t really ever thought about that.

“But Xiaojun? You don’t owe me anything,” Ten held up a finger before the other could interrupt to insist that he did. “I can tell you’re very stubborn, but truly you don’t owe me anything. I’d be a real asshole if I hadn’t helped you.”

Yeah, Xiaojun guesses he would have. He’d also gotten his answer that there was definitely nothing special between them, and that he was just being nice. Of course he’d save him. Ten was kind, and he had the power to stop someone from being hurt.

“Well,” the boy swallowed, “thank you for that, then.” Ten nodded sincerely.

“You’re welcome. Make sure you stay away from Minhyung though,” the vampire stood, seeming to get ready to leave. “He’s not one to mess with. I should know since he’s had it out for me for years. Also, he’s a violent mess, and he likes to play with his food.”

Xiaojun shuddered, blood running cold as his eyes flitted over Ten’s face. The vampire sighed out and looked down to the floor before glancing back up to catch the other’s eyes, looking like he had something more he wanted to say. Instead, he turned and started walking to the door to leave.

He was going to leave Xiaojun again and he hadn’t even confessed. How does one confess to a vampire? Wait… does this mean he’s admitting he has feelings for Ten? Before Xiaojun knew what he was doing, he had stood up off the couch, toe catching the corner of his coffee table forcing him to let out an explicative. Turning back to see what the commotion was about, Ten’s eyes widened in surprise as Xiaojun grasped tightly onto one of his arms and swallowed deeply.

“Don’t go?” Big brown puppy dog eyes were being shot at Ten, and he stared back in confusion before Xiaojun seemed to snap out of it and take a step back letting him go. “I mean, oh god am I really about to say this?” he muttered.

Several seconds ticked by. The silence stretched and enveloped them both in a warning. They both felt the suspense of the next moment; it hung in the air like raindrops, suspended. Should he say anything? There was no going back if he did.

“I missed you.”

Ten froze. Similar to how the other vampire had frozen earlier in the night, seeming to turn almost into a statue. A statue carved by the gods; the gods that knew Xiaojun’s exact type. Finally, the other’s face sank into something he couldn’t really decipher.

“Xiaojun, trust me. You don’t want to go down this path,” he warned awkwardly rubbing his palms together. The boy scoffed.

“Okay, listen,” he took on a tone to scold the vampire, annoyed. “Have I made some bad decisions recently? Yes, but I’ll be dammed if I let anybody tell me to not feel the way I feel.”

“You didn’t miss me. You missed the high,” Ten accused, striding towards Xiaojun with purpose, causing him to walk backwards.

The vampire continued forward until the other’s legs were against the coffee table, not allowing him to move back further. Ten’s face was set in determination; midnight eyes boring into his own, making him feel small. However, Xiaojun was nothing if not stubborn and determined. He righted himself and got into Ten’s space as well, and the vampire remained planted firmly on his feet.

“Okay, did it feel good when you bit me? Yeah, okay, yeah it did.” This time Xiaojun held up a hand to cut the vampire off from interrupting him, “But did I miss you? Yes! Sure, I don’t know you that well but I was attracted to you from the moment I saw you outside that hell hole of a bar two months ago! I thought you were sexy and extremely ballsy the way you stood up to those assholes. Sure, it makes more sense now that I know that you’re a vampire, but that doesn’t mean it still wasn’t impressive!

“Before you ever even bit me I was so curious about you. You know I am, or was, terrified of the dark. That’s because I was panic-stricken when it came to ever encountering a vampire! After that night, I spent so much of my time researching vampires. Was I still a little scared? Yeah, because fears don’t go away in just a couple of days, but I couldn’t get you out of my mind. I was insanely attracted to you, and I had these dreams…anyways. Then, when I finally saw you again, your personality was infectious and mysterious and interesting and, dammit, you’re exactly my type!

“Yes, you biting me was hot as hell but you were also so cute afterwards, and you took care of me. It was sweet and kind. You kept asking and making sure I was okay, and you were considerate of how I was feeling. You’re basically my dream guy, and I missed you, and I really want to spend more time with you to get to know you!” Xiaojun yelled the last part in frustration before realizing how shocked Ten looked; he had even taken a step back. Suddenly embarrassment washed over Xiaojun from head to toe.

Oh god, he had just spilt his entire heart and feelings that he himself was just accepting now, to a vampire who didn’t even see him that way. He exhaled shakily, nerves zinging through him.

“I know it’s not like that for you,” he whispered out, eyes cast to the floor to avoid the vampire, “but I just needed you to know that I’m not lying. I don’t just want your venom to get all good-feely or whatever. You’re interesting okay? And, I guess, I like you. Or have a crush or something…” He punctuated the end of his weird speech with a shrug.

They stared at each other in silence. Well, that was one way to confess, Xiaojun supposed. Neither of them moved as they both sized up the other, gauging how to go about this. You could hear a pin drop in that moment. Silence stretched on as Xiaojun prepared himself to get rejected, and not just an everyday kind of rejected, but by an immortal creature. God, why was he like this.

After who knows how long, Ten relaxed his shoulders and scanned the other’s face looking intensely before sighing and walking over to the couch to sit once more. Well, this was it. Time for the gut wrenching ‘he’s just not that into you’ speech.

“Soo,” Ten started, drawing the word out as if to stall. Xiaojun sighed and looked at the floor. “I guess, black?” His head turned to look in puzzlement at the vampire.

“What?”

“Didn’t you want to know more about me? My favorite color, if I had to choose, would be black. Also, even though I don’t really eat, my guilty pleasure is green tea ice cream. I could eat an entire bucket of that stuff.” He smiled at Xiaojun rubbing the back of his neck.

“So, you, I mean-“

“It’s a dumb idea, for the both of us…but you’re really cute and funny. Plus, for some reason if I never saw you again, I feel like I would be really sad. And pissed at myself. So yeah, what’s your favorite color?”

He joined Ten on the couch and tried not to smile like a small child seeing a candy store for the first time, but it was kind of hard not to. Especially since he just found out the sexy guy he’d been secretly pining after thought he was cute and funny. Xiaojun found out just how old Ten was (109) and where he was from (Thailand, which explains the name and the accent) and maybe he was feeling more and more smitten with the softer side of the vampire.

When he pulled up a third cat video to show to Xiaojun that was ‘just so cute, you’re going to die’, Ten finally noticed the time on his phone.

“Wait, shit, when did it get to be almost six am? Oh shit, Xiaojun. Shit,” he rushed out, standing in the blink of an eye as a blur zoomed around his apartment. The blinds moved back for a second and the door opened a second later before Ten was sat next to him once more, phone gone and head held in his hands.

“Sorry, what’s wrong? I know it’s late, or early…” He slowly looked up at Xiaojun and pointed to himself.

“Vampire.” He turned his hand to then point at the window where a slight glow of lighter blue was starting to peek through his blinds. “Sun.”

Xiaojun’s mouth popped open in a small ‘o’.

“Right, wait…“ he looked hurriedly from the window to Ten and back again. He threw himself off the couch, stumbling before whipped his head around searching for a blanket. He snatched the old tattered one he always kept on the back of the couch before running to the window, slipping twice because he was only wearing socks instead of slippers.

“What are you doing, Xiaojun?”

“Don’t worry! I won’t let you turn to dust!!” He covered the window with the blanket before realizing it wouldn’t stay. Throwing the blanket to the ground, he ran once more to the bathroom.

“HIDE IN THE CORNER THE SUNLIGHT NEVER REACHES THERE FROM THE WINDOW!”

He grabbed two tiny hair clips from his counter, and rushed back out to clip the blanket in place to the blinds. After, securing it tightly, and panting from running all over the place, he turned around to check the damage.

Instead, he saw a bewildered Ten, sitting in the same place on his couch. He had an open mouthed smile on his face before he burst into laughter.

“I’m sorry,” he wheezed out in between laughs, “dust? What movies and books have you been reading?”

“Well, the sun, I thought…”

Ten brought his hand up to wipe away the moisture that had gathered in the corners of his eyes from cackling so hard. Heat rushed to Xiaojun’s cheeks in embarrassment. It seemed like he still had quite a lot to learn about vampires.

After Ten briefed Xiaojun a bit on sunlight when it came to vampires and that he would not in fact to turn dust, just suffer a horrible and ‘extremely annoying’ sunburn, they decided to finally go to get some rest. Xiaojun also found that vampires slept too, just during the day instead of the night. He was learning so much.

Xiaojun was back in the club from the night before. He was with Ten, Hendery, Yangyang, and Lucas. They were all dancing to some trashy song that was overplayed on the radio, while Jason served them drinks. It was so much fun, and they all loved Ten!

Ten kept calling Yangyang a baby and then they would argue until Ten eventually won and Yangyang gave in. Hendery would pacify the younger by kissing his cheek as Lucas picked him up with a squeeze.

“But you are a baby, Yangyang! Our baby,” Hendery said with hearts in his eyes. Lucas nodded enthusiastically, still crushing the boy who was hitting the bigger’s arm trying to be released from his hold.

Xiaojun turned to Ten and made a disgusted face at the public display of affection which Ten laughed lightly at. They continued to dance as the music changed to something slower, sexier, more dangerous sounding. Girls around the top floor began rushing to the poles to seduce whatever straight male they could, but Ten and Xiaojun’s eyes were only on one another.

Heat crawled beneath Xiaojun’s skin watching the way Ten moved. Sure, he himself wasn’t a bad dancer at all, but the way Ten moved his body was sinful, and with his eyes locked on him, it was impossible not to be affected.

Hands sweaty as the vampire came close to hold Xiaojun’s neck, gently caressing it. Ten leaned into his ear, whispering sweet nothings cloaked in absolute filth.

He sucked in a deep breath as their bodies pressed together on the floor. When Ten’s lips went from his ear to his neck, he began to kiss it softly. The vampire’s grip on the other side of his neck tightened marginally, and Xiaojun lost all thought tilting his head back to expose as much of his neck as he possibly could.

Xiaojun couldn’t find it in himself to care even one bit that they were in the middle of a club; he wanted Ten to bite him right now. He tilted his head back up, causing Ten to pull back as they stared at each other, eyes hooded with lust.

“Please,” Xiaojun rasped out.

Ten’s eyes cleared up; all seduction and haze left them as they turned a glowing crimson. Tears pooled in the corner of the vampire’s eyes as a sinister smile stretched onto his face, fangs on display.

“ _Gladly_ ,” he grated out. He didn’t sound like Ten at all.

As Xiaojun froze, the club disappeared and all he could see was the vampire in front of him morphing, changing into Minhyung. He harshly grabbed his neck and pulled him towards his fangs, blood tears rippling down his alabaster skin, polling at his chin. A low hiss responded in his ears as Xiaojun tried to scream.

Xiaojun’s eyes shot open, breathing ragged, heart pounding, eye darting about. He scrambled to raise himself onto his elbows as his sight began to focus. He was in his bed, tucked into his sheets, as Ten who had been sleeping on the couch, was now awake and staring at the door protectively.

Knocking that was quickly turning to banging came from the other side of door. Xiaojun’s heart wouldn’t slow down, the banging echoing in his ears. His sweaty palms grasped at his covers, bringing them up to his chest in a futile effort to hide from his nightmare and from the sound coming from his front door.

Ten rushed over to the door and looked back to Xiaojun briefly before flinging the front door open.

There stood Hendery, bubble tea in hand, red eyed and hand raised to bang on the door once again. When he noticed that the vampire had answered instead of his friend, his expression quickly changed from desperation to bewilderment.

“Wait, aren’t you that vampire?” Hendery questioned, his tone sounding stuffy as he sniffled. Ten cocked his head at that, trying to place where Hendery must have known him from.

Xiaojun’s best friend finally turned his face to spot him still lying in his bed in fear, his brain still trying to catch up to the events happening.

“Oh my god, Xiaojun!” Hendery wailed, full dramatics on display as he pushed Ten out of the way to pass him heading straight for the bed. He sat the bubble tea on the bedside table before he threw himself on top of Xiaojun, earning an “oof” from the smaller boy as air left his lungs.

“I thought you hated me! Why didn’t you answer your phone! Why won’t you talk to us! I thought you must have got kidnapped or taken or or or…” he trailed off, nuzzling into Xiaojun’s side and clinging to his whole body, enveloping him in a giant bear hug. “Don’t do that again, it was scary! And mean!” he said between sniffles.

Xiaojun turned slightly, so that he could hug Hendery back properly. He turned his head to see Ten shut the door as he shook his head in amusement.

“I’m sorry, Dery. Really. I was going to call you and apologize to all of you today and explain what was going on, but…” he made eye contact with Ten who was leaning against the door, arms crossed.

Hendery sat up and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand where a few tears had leaked out. He climbed off Xiaojun and sat on his bed, breathing in deeply and exhaling once more before he looked to Ten and back to Xiaojun.

“If you were fucking a vampire, you could have just told us, you know?” Xiaojun sputtered aghast while Ten looked like this was the most fun he had had in decades.

“We’re not fucking!” Hendery rolled his eyes.

“I know you don’t let anyone sleep over here, and you haven’t even had anyone over since your last boyfriend. Don’t lie to me.”

“We’re not fucking!!”

“Not yet, at least,” Ten added after the loud declaration.

Hendery nodded with a soft ‘ahh’ while Xiaojun proceeded to choke on his spit and cough, his fist coming up to pound at his chest. He refused to look at either of them while he leaned over to grab the bubble tea and took a giant gulp.

“I’m drinking this. I don’t care if it was for me or not,” he muttered angrily in between drinks.

“It’s for you, it’s an I’m sorry gift.”

The two best friends shot each other puppy dog eyes, before embracing once more. No matter how stubborn Xiaojun could be, he always had a weak spot for his friends, especially Hendery.

After failing to convince Hendery that he and Ten were dating, which were they? No, right? Like they had just talked, and he said he was cute. But dating would be cool. Maybe he should ask? His best friend left with Xiaojun’s promise of calling Yangyang and Lucas today to apologize to them as well, and try to and explain that he had been going through some stuff.

Before leaving, Hendery spun on his heel to face Ten and point accusingly.

“I don’t care if you’re some big, bad vampire, if you hurt him, I’ll kill you.” He punctuated the sentence by tracing his thumb across his throat and then pointing at Ten and turning his hand back to point at his own eyes.

“Your friends seem fun,” Ten said after the door clicked shut. Xiaojun flopped back onto his bed after throwing away the empty bubble tea cup.

“They’re weirdos. But they’re my weirdos.” Ten snickered at the strange term of endearment.

“That’s what makes them fun,” he smiled softly.

Xiaojun finally reached for his phone that he had plugged in once Hendery informed him that it was dead; every time he had called, it went straight to voicemail and Hendery knew that even if they were fighting there was no way Xiaojun would stoop so low as to block his number.

It was three pm; he had slept one of his days off away completely. He sat back up, looking over to Ten.

“Is it okay if I call my friends? Are you hungry? I can orde- oh,” his hand came up to lightly smack himself on the forehead, “I’m an idiot, sorry.”

“It’s no problem, go ahead.” Ten looked at him with so much endearment that Xiaojun didn’t know what to do, so he quickly looked back down and dialed up Lucas.

Two phone calls, one order of take-out, and two studio ghibli movies later, Ten and Xiaojun sat huddled up on his little couch staring at his laptop. The screen lit up, displaying the words ‘Are Still Watching?’ prompting Ten to stand and stretch his back.

“That’s probably a sign that we should stop staring at that tiny screen. I bet it’s straining your eyes anyways.”

“Just because you have immortal sight or whatever, doesn’t make you better than me,” Xiaojun pouted with a glare aimed at the vampire who just smiled and scrunched up his nose in return.

“The sun will set soon, so I can get out of your hair. You work tomorrow, right?” Xiaojun nodded.

Ten pulled out his phone from his back pocket, typing something onto the screen before handing it over. It had his name and a place to create a new contact.

“Can I get your phone number so I can take you out on a date sometime? You know, if you’re still interested?” Xiaojun snorted and took his phone from him.

“I’ll go out with you, as long as you’re sure _you’re_ still interested.”

He felt thin fingers lifting his chin up. Ten had moved closer, god knows when, and stood before him, looking down at Xiaojun with soft eyes. Leaning in, they both closed their eyes before their lips touched.

Ten’s lips were surprisingly soft and warm, and they parted just slightly at the soft kiss not daring to delve any further just yet. Xiaojun’s shoulder’s relaxed as he sighed out and tilted his head ever so slightly to the right, to lean in to be a bit closer to the other.

As Xiaojun finally felt confident enough to raise a hand to hold the back of Ten’s neck, the other broke the kiss. His fingers still rested lightly underneath Xiaojun’s chin, angling his head to maintain eye contact.

“I’m still interested, trust me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments and kudos are a writers bread and butter~


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW// sexual content

It was a little too easy to get used to texting a vampire.

Well, when said vampire was hilarious, gorgeous, and also quite a bit out of touch with today’s slang terms, it was that much harder not to talk to him. Every time Xiaojun abbreviated something, it prompted a series of questions from Ten.

It was also extremely easy to make fun of the vampire because of this, which was quickly turning into Xiaojun’s favorite pastime. It took the better part of an hour to get him to finally understand the use of ‘lol’.

_If you’re laughing, why not just tell me it was funny? Or at the very least send a ‘ha ha’- **Ten**_

_Send a ‘ha ha’ ???? oh my god, lol. I’m laughing now, specifically at you- **Xiaojun**_

_...are you making fun of me, Xiao Dejun?- **Ten**_

_Yes, yes I am you old weirdo- **Xiaojun**_

Xiaojun had had to apologize for laughing so loudly in the bookstore he had been in, after receiving harsh stares.

Fending off his friends was the hardest part of it all. After Hendery had burst in on the two of them, it was impossible to get any of them to go a day without bringing it up. They constantly asked if he was his boyfriend, what it was like to make out with a vampire, and the most annoying question of them all… had Xiaojun gotten laid yet. Considering it had been their goal for months now to find Xiaojun a boyfriend, he could tell they were more than enthused to have a particular person to focus that energy onto.

Ten loved it though.

Somehow, Ten had gotten his three best friend’s phone numbers and was in his own separate group chat without him. Xiaojun found this out when they were walking in the park near his apartment one night.

“I’m sorry?!”

“Yup!” the vampire grabbed Xiaojun’s hand and raised it to his lips to press a soft kiss on the tops of his fingers. “They’re quite funny, honestly. Though Yangyang can be a bit of a brat,” he scowled obviously recalling a specific memory. Xiaojun laughed heartily at that, himself recalling the several moments the younger had made jokes at his expense.

“Get used to it.”

Ten stopped walking to turn and quirk an eyebrow at Xiaojun. The moon was bright out; a few other people were in the park, scattered in the moonlight. A smattering of conversation carried on the wind that ruffled both of their hair.

“Does that mean I’ll be sticking around then?” Oh.

Xiaojun’s cheeks lit up something fierce. Even though it was cold out, he felt hot in his fluffy sweater and tugged at his collar uncomfortably. He brought his free hand up to cough into, in order to clear his throat and stall. Ten knew exactly what he was doing, his lips turning up into a gentle smirk.

“I mean, if you want.” Ten hummed in response before turning and walking forward down the path once more.

These walks were starting to become normal for the two, and Xiaojun looked forward to them after work every day. He went from staying late every weekday, to rushing out as soon as his duties were finished at the coffee shop. Kun very obviously missed the extra help, but when you had a handsome vampire waiting for you, the choice was obvious.

Looking at him now, Xiaojun couldn’t believe the rollercoaster that had been his past few months. He had changed in ways he had never expected, and… he was happy. Ten skipped forwards a couple of steps, pulling Xiaojun along, he rolled his eyes to himself at how cheesy things between them had become considering where they had started.

When they approached the small lake towards the back of the park, Ten tugged Xiaojun closer to the tree line. It was calming back here. The buildings from across the reservoir cast lights into the water that reflected back beautifully; he loved how separated they were from others back here.

Ten released his hand and gently walked him backwards to press him up against the nearest tree. The vampire approached him, tracing the sharp outline of Xiaojun’s jaw with his narrow, pale fingers. He closed his eyes and inhaled as Ten leaned forward to capture his lips.

Their lips moved softly together. Ten always treated Xiaojun as if he would accidentally break him at any given moment. His touch was always soft on his face, his neck, and his hair. Right now was no exception either. Gentle hands caressed through Xiaojun’s unstyled and fluffy hair.

It felt like a drug, being with Ten, kissing him this way, like he was the lead protagonist straight out of a novel.

Ten’s lips felt as if he never went a single day without applying chapstick. Gracefully, they continued to brush against Xiaojun’s own lips, who wasted no time opening his mouth to deepen the kiss. Ten took the hint and brushed his thumb against the other’s cheekbone before untangling his hands from his hair.

He grabbed Xiaojun’s lithe waist with either hand and guided him to step backwards once more, securing him against the tree. Slipping a knee between the other’s legs, Ten licked deeply into his mouth before retracting from the kiss.

Xiaojun didn’t even have a second to miss Ten’s lips as the other began to pepper wet kisses down the side of his neck. Throwing his head back, he rested it on the tree trunk and Ten continued to kiss and suck his way down to his collarbone.

The fluffy sweater blocking Ten quickly became a frustration to both of the boys. Xiaojun continued to get riled up while the vampire kissed lower, obviously aroused.

“Damn thing,” Ten grunted out as he pulled Xiaojun’s sweater collar to the side to latch onto the skin there with his mouth, causing the other to gasp at the action.

His thoughts began to drift to how he was definitely going to have to keep wearing turtlenecks to work, before he felt a slight prick in the hollow of his collar bone, almost like a needle.

“Ah, what?”

Before he registered what had happened, Ten was across the small grassy area near the lake panting. Even in the darkness, he could see the red glint in his eyes. Xiaojun swallowed, his heart racing.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean,” Ten started, speaking just loudly enough for his words to be heard, “I didn’t mean to.” Xiaojun shook his head, hand coming up to feel where Ten must have accidentally scraped him with his fangs.

“It’s fine, really.” He brought his hand up to examine it, there wasn’t even any blood left behind. Ten ruffled his hair in frustration.

“I just haven’t had anything since before we’ve kind of been talking, and I didn’t think… ugh,” he cursed under his breath. “I didn’t think you would want me drinking from someone else, but I also didn’t know how to ask or how to go about it.”

“I don’t mind.” Xiaojun shrugged, determined to come across as nonchalant. However, his mind raced back to the intimate moment they had shared when Ten first drank his blood.

“You… don’t mind me drinking from someone else?”

“Huh? What! No I mean,” Xiaojun shuffled awkwardly, trying to will his arousal to go down so he could focus on the suddenly serious conversation, “I don’t mind if you drink from me.” The last words tapered down to a whisper.

But Ten heard it.

His eyes had started to shift recently from the brooding obsidian to a tinted red, and Xiaojun hadn’t even bothered to make the connection.

“Well, if you don’t mind?” Ten arched an eyebrow, signature smirk back in place before he crossed back over and took Xiaojun by the hand. “Let’s go back to your place.”

Maybe it would be harder to tell Hendery that he still wasn’t fucking a vampire by the end of the night.

Ten grasped Xiaojun and moved him quickly, depositing him on his own bed before flitting back to close and lock the door in the time it took Xiaojun to take two breaths. Vampire speed was nothing to joke about; but he also seemed faster than before. Ever since he had mentioned he was fine with Ten feeding on him, his mind seemed to be a new kind of determined.

He hovered over Xiaojun, pressing him into his bed by his wrists as he laid on his back and looked up into Ten’s hypnotizing gaze.

“Do you want me to use the, what did you call it, ‘the fuzzy’, on you again?” The vampire smirked, eyes glinting with humor. There was no trace of humor in Xiaojun’s answer though.

“No. I want to be fully aware of you,” his Adam’s apple bobbed as he stared into Ten’s eyes.

Xiaojun saw how the other’s expression slowly fell from playful to something much deeper. Ten scanned the other’s face as if he was trying to pinpoint something specific that he was unsure about. Before Xiaojun got the chance to ask, he leaned down and pressed his lips lightly to the side of his mouth.

“Okay.”

Ten leaned down onto his forearms, bringing them face to face. His kisses gravitated from the corner of Xiaojun’s mouth over his lips and to the other side of his face before dipping down to his neck. He tensed up as he got ready to be bitten, his hands coming up, grasping tightly onto Ten’s biceps. However, the bite didn’t come, just a series of kisses against his skin; each one more intense than the last.

A soft exhale of breath left Xiaojun’s lips as he felt Ten’s tongue trace itself back up to his earlobe, circling the outside. Shivers ran rampant up and down the other’s arms and back at the sensual touch. Ten’s nose nuzzled gently into the hair just above Xiaojun’s ear, his lips moving subtly, whispering.

“Let’s take your sweater off, hm?” Xiaojun simply nodded and raised his arms above his head, lifting his body slightly so that it was easier to remove.

Ten’s hands slid up either side of Xiaojun’s waist as he removed the sweater which he daftly tossed to the ground and immediately latched back onto the other’s neck once more. Kissing his way down to his collar bones, he swirled his tongue in the indention they created there.

Xiaojun stopped trying to angle his head down to look at Ten and instead relaxed his head back onto the bed and closed his eyes, savoring the feeling of wet kisses being pressed down his chest now. He felt Ten sit up and in the process, pressed himself down onto Xiaojun’s groin causing him to open his mouth in a soft gasp. His eyes popped open just in time to see Ten peel his shirt from his body and toss it in the same direction his sweater had gone.

Ten’s body was impeccable. He had zero flaws.

His skin was taut over his stomach and chest, smooth and unblemished. The vampire almost glowed in the soft light of Xiaojun’s fluorescent lights due to how pale his skin was; harshly contrasting against his own tanned complexion.

Faint outlines of abs and slightly muscled pecs and arms were a mouthwatering sight to Xiaojun. He wasn’t overly buff and beef, just lean and toned, and damn, was it sexy.

Ten leaned back down to connect their lips once more, and Xiaojun threaded his hands into the other’s dark locks, not caring about how badly he was probably messing up his beautifully styled hair. Their tongues teased one another’s, and Xiaojun couldn’t stop his hands from exploring the expanse of Ten above him. His hands trailed down to the top of the vampire’s dark jeans and he traced the edge of the fabric, teasing him without daring to go any further.

Pulling away from the kiss, Ten stared down at Xiaojun and smiled knowingly.

“Are you trying to play with me, or are you scared of what you’ll find, baby?”

Dark pink bloomed across Xiaojun’s chest, traveling up his neck and not stopping until even the tips of his ears were painted the same color. He sputtered once, trying to respond without letting Ten know it was both of the things he had guessed. Letting his gaze travel down to the naked chest of the one below him, the vampire smirked and shifted his weight so that he could trace his fingers across the pretty flush.

“So you blush here too,” Ten lowered his head and placed one kiss squarely in the middle of his chest. “Pretty.”

Xiaojun was breathless. He just couldn’t keep up with Ten whose teases and pace was taking him for a ride of pleasure that was going to edge towards frustration if he didn’t do something about it soon.

When the kisses from the vampire found their way to his neck, he shifted to lie down on his side next to Xiaojun. Ten brought his front to press against the other’s back and shifted them into a spooning position.

“Is this comfortable?” Xiaojun nodded while the vampire slipped one of his legs in between his own to inch even closer and bury himself against his neck. “Tell me to stop whenever you want. At any time,” he whispered against Xiaojun’s pulse point before kissing the skin there softly once more.

He braced himself for the bite, but without the fuzzy feeling this time, he could definitely feel the hurt. Xiaojun sucked in a sharp breath between his teeth, fisting the comforter with one hand. Ten quickly wrapped one arm around his waist affectionately while his other hand came around his body to hold Xiaojun’s neck.

The vampire’s hand rested softly against the other’s neck, his thumb running back and forth softly along his jaw while he began to drink. It took several moments longer this time for the euphoria to replace the uncomfortable ache, but when it did, it hit Xiaojun like a truck causing him to moan lowly and lean his head to expose as much of his neck to Ten as possible.

He felt the sensual trace of Ten’s tongue against the punctures in his neck as he arched his back, trying to get closer to the feeling. The vampire obliged by pulling him backwards by the waist to press his groin to the small swell of his ass.

Ten retracted his fangs far too soon for Xiaojun’s taste, licking a thick stripe up the wound.

“You okay so far?” He whispered to Xiaojun who could only whine in protest at the other.

Chuckling, Ten sunk his teeth back in at a lower point in his neck this time, opening the skin again. This time there was no pain, only immense pleasure that was pooling itself in his gut and traveling lower.

Distracted, he barely noticed Ten’s hand that was on his waist, drift down to deftly pop open the button on his jeans and quickly unzip them. He became very aware when the thin and elegant fingers he found himself admiring from time to time, inch their way past his tight briefs and grasp tightly onto his length.

Xiaojun wasn’t truly sure when it had happened, but he was fully hard. Probably the hardest he had ever been. When Ten began to slowly pump his hand up and down, he couldn’t help letting out soft ‘ah’s with every pass of his hand.

The sensations were overwhelming. Xiaojun wasn’t one to come undone so easily, but the pace Ten was keeping and the heat of the moment was inching him faster towards the end than he was used to.

His grip tightened on his length and he pressed his thumb firmly underneath the head before circling it harshly. Xiaojun choked out a sound that was somewhere between a moan and a sob. The arousal he was feeling was at an incredible height and something he had never felt so strongly in his life before. He buckled up weakly into Ten’s hand as the vampire finally released his neck.

“Go ahead, come for me baby,” Ten whispered into the shell of Xiaojun’s ear and he was overcome with shock and embarrassment at the fact that that was all it took to finally undo him.

Shaking in Ten’s hold, he was hit with waves of pleasure rolling through his body. Endorphins from the vampire bite and the orgasm wracked their way through him, leaving him an absolute scatter-brained mess in their wake.

He was left panting in Ten’s arms, who gently retracted his hand and kissed his neck lightly before rolling Xiaojun to lie on his back.

Reveling in the afterglow of potentially the most intense sexual encounter he had ever had, even though it was merely a handjob, he heard the cabinets and doors open one after the other. The bed dipped, and Ten appeared above him with tissues and a glass of water.

“Would you like me to…?” He trailed off vaguely, shooting his eyes down towards Xiaojun’s still unzipped pants.

“Oh, oh no it’s no its-“ he tried to sit up and grab the tissues, but his head swam at the sudden movement.

“Hey, be careful baby,” Ten quickly supported his back and helped him get comfortable on the bed once more. “Really, I don’t mind.”

Xiaojun just nodded slightly, closing his eyes and trying to will himself to snap out of it. Ten cleaned him up quickly and it was only mildly embarrassing, much to his relief. Soon after, a glass of water was pressed against his lips as he was held up once again. He drank half the glass before Ten would let him move to finally sit on his own.

“How do you feel?” He asked Xiaojun, brushing the loose strands of hair that rested on the other’s forehead out of the way, and tucking them behind his ear.

“I feel…” What did Xiaojun feel?

Content?

Exhausted?

Mild-blowingly intense happiness?

“I get it, it can be overwhelming, but are you okay with what I did?” He sputtered at the question.

“Oh more than okay,” Ten chuckled at that. “But you-“ He gestured at the obvious bulge that was in the vampire’s jeans. Smiling, he leaned over to press a kiss to Xiaojun’s forehead.

“Next time.”

Xiaojun pouted at that. That wasn’t fair to Ten. But also, he wanted to help him for his own selfish reasons. As in, he’s super sexy and he wanted to get his hands on the vampire.

However, at least there was the promise of a next time.

Ten, after making sure Xiaojun had eaten some snacks from his kitchen, cuddled him on his bed for almost an hour before he had to leave. Sunrise would eventually come and neither of them wanted Ten to be stuck all day alone in Xiaojun’s apartment, but that also didn’t mean he wanted the other to leave.

With a promise of seeing each other over the weekend and a kiss, Ten left him alone to stare at his ceiling and smile. He couldn’t wait to see the other again.

Xiaojun had made the mistake of mentioning to his friends what had happened between Ten and him. First came the teasing of getting off like a high schooler, then it was how come he didn’t return the favor, and somehow, landed on a promise to bring the vampire out with them as soon as possible. According to Yangyang, he still couldn’t get laid without their help, even though he had a vampire boyfriend.

Xiaojun did not appreciate that.

Over the next couple of weeks, Xiaojun and Ten explored all possible dates that could occur at night time. A few drive-in movies, lots of restaurants where Xiaojun ate while Ten just stared adoringly and asked questions, countless nights of binging Netflix, and of course their walks in the park.

He loved the quiet evenings with Ten, and he found himself admiring the way his neck looked smattered with the vampire’s bites, a few hickeys sprinkled throughout.

Of course, whenever the subject of his boyfriend came up with his friends, they continued to beg him to go on a double date. Yangyang not forgetting to remind him that he could finally get laid with their help. It made Xiaojun want to hang out with them even less, but Ten was the exact opposite, wanting to spend time with his friends.

So, he found himself arm in arm with Hendery, strolling down the sidewalk with Lucas and Yangyang laughing boisterously at some joke Ten had made, behind them.

They didn’t really have set plans besides walking around downtown and stopping at a restaurant or a bar along the way. Whoever spotted something interesting would just drag the others along, and they would find something inside to do.

After Yangyang had tried to pull them into the third bar that night, Hendery declared that they should just go to a club instead.

“What club? We’re downtown and the clubs we always go to are twenty minutes away at best,” Yangyang said, clinging to Lucas’s side for warmth.

“Well… we’ve been finding other places to go to! So maybe we can find a club around here too!” Hendery protested.

The two began to bicker while Lucas looked on lovingly, a soft smile plastered to his face. Arms circled Xiaojun’s waist from behind as Ten rested his head on his shoulder before pressing a kiss to his cheek.

“Sorry about them,” he whispered to Ten, who just shook his head.

“Don’t be. I missed normal conversations like these. It’s refreshing.”

Snuggling into Xiaojun’s neck, he breathed in deeply. He couldn’t help but to relax back into Ten’s arms and extend his neck slightly to the right. He caught sight of the street sign and- oh!

He knew this street! And it was a Saturday too!

“Wait guys!” Xiaojun interrupted the lover’s quarrel, earning four pairs of eyes on him. “I actually know a club nearby, and I know someone who works there too!”

Cheers rang out from Hendery, who grabbed his hand and pulled him away from Ten forcing him to take them immediately to wherever he was talking about.

Approaching the club Xiaojun had been at the night he saw Ten again, Yangyang made a weird face.

“Is this a straight club?” He asked in disbelief.

“Yes,” Xiaojun laughed, “but I know one of the bartenders and he’s super nice!” Yangyang continued to grumble, but Lucas just lifted him in a hug and carried him the remaining way to the back of the line in order to enter the club.

When they finally reached the front of the line, and forked over the price of the cover charge, Xiaojun led them to the right set of stairs immediately, up to the bar where Jason had been working last time.

“Oh this place is actually pretty nice!” Lucas said, wide eyes looking over the dance floor and the couches surrounding the poles upstairs.

The bar on the balcony came into view, and Xiaojun immediately spotted the bartender who had been nothing but wonderful to him last time.

“Jason!” He yelled out, to get the other’s attention from behind the bar where he was currently rinsing something out. Turning around he spotted Xiaojun straight away and set his cup down in order to approach him and his friends.

“Thank god you’re alive,” he laughed, causing Xiaojun to rub the back of his neck in embarrassment.

“Yeah, I’m sorry about ditching you. That night was… a weird one.” He felt Ten press up against his back, and wrap an arm around his waist.

Xiaojun then went around and introduced everyone he was with and Jason whipped up a drink for everyone besides Ten, who had claimed he was the DD for the night. Yangyang dragged Hendery to the dance floor who then latched onto the closest person, which happened to be Ten, and pulled him out as well. Laughing at the expression of confusion Ten shot him, he took a seat.

Xiaojun shot his eyes over to Lucas to see if he would join them as well, only to be surprised at he and the bartender stuck in an animated conversation. When he heard the words ‘bench press’ and ‘dead lift’ being thrown around, he decided to enjoy the picture of his friends being a total mess on the dance floor instead.

Hendery had wrapped his arms around the nearest pole that came out from the upstairs floor and spun around it reenacting a scene from _Singing in the Rain_. Ten got the reference immediately and joined in with a tap dance, while Yangyang was doing some kind of weird popping and locking. To say they were attracting attention would be a vast understatement.

Shaking his head, Xiaojun turned to glance back to the bar where a whiskey sour now sat in front of him. A napkin was underneath it with little hearts around the edge. He sent Jason a smile when their eyes caught and a thumbs up that the bartender returned to him.

Lucas and Jason were still deep in conversation, trading workout tips and diet regimens as Xiaojun began to sip on his drink. He hadn’t stopped smiling, and as he watched his friends and the vampire he was starting to more than like, laugh and dance away, Xiaojun figured that maybe this could be his forever.

His cheeks began to ache from laughter when Ten spun Hendery so fast he spilt half of his lemon drop onto the already sticky ground and pointed an accusatory finger in the vampire’s direction. Ten held up his hands in mock surrender as Yangyang danced his way in between the two of them.

“So how have you been Xiaojun?” He turned around and saw Jason leaning across the bar, a pleasant expression on his face. Lucas had apparently made his way to the bathroom and left the two to catch up.

“I’ve been good! Really good,” he smiled wide.

In fact this was probably the happiest Xiaojun had ever been. It was an extremely unconventional whirlwind at any given time, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. He turned back to glance at his friends and lover dancing on the floor.

“Ah, I’m really glad to hear you say that. I was worried about not only how you made it home, but also whether you were doing okay with the heartbreak from that guy you were looking for.”

“Oh, yeah. I’m definitely fine. More than fine actually.”

Jason smiled and Xiaojun echoed it back to him before taking a small sip of his whiskey sour. The bartender looked over him before leaning and reaching out to brush something off of the top of Xiaojun’s hair. He ducked at first at the unexpected touch, confused.

“Sorry, you had some weird fuzz or fluff on the top of your head.”

“Oh! Thanks,” he averted his eyes awkwardly from the bartender who was still leaned over the counter.

“Actually, it’s still right-“ Jason reached back out again, leaning into Xiaojun’s personal space.

A breeze passed by his left and he felt a hand softly run its way through his hair. The bartender froze at the movement as Ten fixed the other’s hair before pressing a small kiss onto his cheek. Xiaojun blushed at the public display of affection, and in a straight bar nonetheless.

“There you go baby. I got it for you.” Jason stared slack-jawed.

“H-how are you so fast?”

“Hm? Oh, I run marathons. Come on,” he said dismissively and pulled Xiaojun by the hand out onto the dance floor, leaving the bartender to stare in confusion.

Ten pulled him close to his front and guided his hands to wrap around his neck, while he let his own hands settle on the other’s waist. They moved slowly against one another and tension sparked when their eyes locked; Xiaojun’s buzzed and timid gaze meeting the vampire’s harsh and protective one.

“I don’t like him,” Ten grunted out, shooting a glare back towards the bar.

“Who? Jason? He’s super nice though.”

“Yeah because he wants to fuck you,” Xiaojun didn’t have a moment to retort as Ten pulled him in closer and kissed his neck, running his hands up his side. “But that’s my job.”

A gasp ripped its way from Xiaojun at the explicit remark and the possessiveness Ten was showing. He’d be loathe to admit it, but jealous vampire Ten was even sexier than normal.

Of course, the song drifted to something dangerous and sexy just at the right timing. Making use of it, he turned Xiaojun around and circled his waist and- oh wow.

So Ten could really move his hips.

Like, really well.

And his tipsy brain was not holding back on its unbridled explicit thoughts. In fact, he probably couldn’t take a full song of this before he popped a boner. Taking matters into his own hand, he grabbed Ten’s wrist and pulled lightly. The vampire didn’t show any disagreement to the action and followed willingly.

He pulled the other along to the back of the balcony, avoiding Yangyang’s teasing eyebrow wiggle when they passed him. Xiaojun was on a mission, and he was going to see it through. The door to the bathroom was pushed open, and he quickly ushered the vampire into the back stall.

Their lips met as soon as the lock clicked shut on the stall, and Ten pressed him up against the wall. He was thankful they kept this bathroom tidy when he lowered himself to his knees in front of Ten.

It was rare that Xiaojun would ever see surprise or shock on the vampire’s face, so he drank the expression in. He was definitely more than satisfied at the reaction he received; Ten even stayed frozen for a moment as he began to undo the buttons on his jeans.

“Baby, you don-“ Xiaojun shoved the other’s jeans and boxers down in one fell swoop, and he took a step back to brace himself against the wall.

“If you don’t want me to, I’ll stop,” he looked up at Ten from the ground, “but, I really want to.”

“Well, who am I to stop you from doing something you want,” he smirked and ran a hand through Xiaojun’s hair in encouragement. He couldn’t help but to send him a smirk back, because all though he may have been out of practice, he was pretty sure he was going to see Ten’s shocked face again soon.

Xiaojun leaned forward and took a hold of Ten’s length. He was soft, but that didn’t deter him from closing his mouth and sucking his cheeks in. A hiss rang out above him and he could already feel his dick hardening in his mouth.

He ran his tongue underneath from the base to tip and sucked the head in his mouth, concentrating on the most sensitive part before lowering his head and repeating the action again. Ten’s hand in his hair would tighten before he realized and released his grip, only to tighten and tug his strands once more.

However, Xiaojun was far from minding the tugging on his scalp. In fact, he loved it. He pulled off of Ten to tell him as much. Looking him straight in the eyes, Xiaojun stuck his tongue out to let the other’s dick sit prettily on it before sliding forwards and closing his lips once again.

“Fuck!” Ten’s eyes glinted red as he clenched his free hand before joining it with his other to grasp onto Xiaojun’s hair.

Ten was fully hard now, so he had to use his hand to circle and stroke the bottom of his shaft while using his mouth on the top half of his length. The vampire may be small in stature, but Xiaojun was genuinely surprised at how big his dick had become. It’s not crazy huge or anything, but he was having trouble deepthroating when normally he could accomplish that with ease.

The second time he sunk all the way to the base, relaxing his throat to let Ten’s dick slip as far back as possible, he succeeded. Hands tightened notably in his hair, tugging at the soft brown strands in order to hold on almost as if he was trying not to buck up and choke Xiaojun, which he greatly appreciated. He swallowed, his throat contracting around the head of the length and moaned lowly, sending vibrations along his shaft.

“You’re good at this,” the vampire whispered out in a strained voice. Xiaojun inched his way carefully back in order to respond.

“I know. You can fuck my throat if you want,” his said, voice coming out raspy. He stared down at Xiaojun in disbelief, shaking his head lightly from side to side before he sunk back down to the base and continued swallowing to tighten his throat.

Ten started out with small, shallow bucks of his hips, eliciting a lewd wet noise from Xiaojun with each thrust. He breathed and relaxed, letting the vampire take over completely as he grew bolder.

His nose was pressed repeatedly into the neatly trimmed hair at the base of his shaft, as Ten let out the most sinful sounds Xiaojun thinks he’s ever heard. Low and rough grunts were mixed in with soft sighs as he continued his onslaught.

They weren’t being loud by any means, but when the two heard the bathroom door open quietly, Ten immediately stopped thrusting. He tried to coax Xiaojun off; he wouldn’t pry though. Continuing to swallow once again as tears now drifted lightly down his cheeks, he could tell he was giving Ten a run for his money.

Xiaojun bobbed his head a minuscule amount looking up at Ten, his eyes sparkling with mischief. The vampire screwed his face up and released a long breath trying to stay silent.

The sound of running water and the door closing after a minute was signal enough to the two that they were in the clear.

“Pinch me to stop,” Ten whispered before thrusting once more into Xiaojun’s throat.

He set a harsh pace, but Xiaojun was determined to see it through. It was no lie when he said he was good at this, so when Ten whispered out that he was close, he backed off to take a deep breath before hallowing his cheeks and going to work once more.

Seconds later he came in Xiaojun’s mouth who quickly swallowed and looked up at Ten. He leaned back onto his ankles, wiping his tears with the back of his hand.

Panting, the vampire stared down at him with an expression that was somewhere between shock and awe. He stood to his feet and kissed Ten’s cheek.

“Consider this my thank you gift for last time,” he said chuckling lightly and trying to clear the rasp from his voice.

Ten grabbed his cheeks and kissed him vigorously, before backing away and pushing his hands together to squish Xiaojun’s cheeks.

“You are incredible.”

Xiaojun headed back to the dance floor to find his friends in a grinding mess. It was strange how they were all great at dancing, but if given a little alcohol and gotten horny, they would turn into a weird puddle of limbs and strange gyrations. Lucas spotted him making his way back first.

“Hey! Where’s Ten?” He said unnecessarily loud even if the music was thumping in their ears.

“He had to use the bathroom!”

“Isn’t that what you guys were doing?” Hendery patted Lucas’s cheek.

“You’re so cute Xuxi. They were obviously fucking.” Lucas’s mouth popped open in an ‘o’ shape.

“We weren’t!” He defended while Yangyang rolled his eyes.

“If you’re serious, then why did it taking so long?” Xiaojun shrugged, pulling them close to hug them.

“It’s crazy guys, being with Ten sexually, I mean.” Normally he was a private person, but he was on an endorphin high and full of happiness and alcohol, which made his lips loose.

“Details please!”

“Well, of course he’s gorgeous and absolutely my type, but it’s way more than that. He’s so caring and lovely after the fact. He’s super attentive and never pushes me too far. We vibe so well in everything, I guess it only makes sense that our chemistry would transfer over to, you know, other stuff as well.”

“Boring,” Yangyang interjected, earning simultaneous soft slaps to either of his arms from Lucas and Hendery.

“Anyways, when he bites me, it’s really intense. I have no clue how it actually happens, but I swear I could become addicted to that feeling.” Xiaojun sighed at the recollection, his fingers dipping below his collar to rub at the lingering marks. “It’s seriously like reaching euphoria. I’m not joking. He can even release these pheromones that calm you down, which makes you all floaty. Becoming hooked on him was easy.”

Hendery wiggled his eyebrows and looked behind Xiaojun. Ten had come back and was standing right next to him. Embarrassment at the fact that he probably been raving about their sexual encounters rushed through him.

He shot him a small, timid smile. Ten’s face was strangely stoic in return, but before he could ask, Yangyang swept him away into a dance.

Last call came quickly, and Ten gathered them all up to leave and get them home safely. Flagging down a taxi for Hendery, Yangyang, and Lucas, the vampire was still strangely avoiding eye contact with Xiaojun.

Once they were able to shove the three boys into the car and bid them goodnight, he turned to the other and grabbed his hand. Ten held his hand back, but his gaze was focused on the street lights instead as they walked back to his apartment.

“Hey, Tennie,” the other turned his head distractedly to face Xiaojun, humming in acknowledgment. “Are you okay?”

The vampire turned his head, brushing his dark fringe off his forehead and gazing at the street lights once more.

“Let’s get back to your apartment, it’s cold.”

Xiaojun’s face settled into a confused scowl. They spent the rest of the twenty minute walk home in silence.

When they reached Xiaojun’s, Ten came inside after him and sat himself on his ratty couch. He was becoming used to seeing the vampire take residence there and usually felt comfort in the picture of it. For some reason, it didn’t bring him comfort this time.

Nerves were rolling in waves, crashing onto a beach of anxiety in Xiaojun’s mind. Had he pushed it too far back in the club? Was he mad at him for sharing details about their private life? Ten didn’t seem like someone who would care much, but he should have asked first.

“So, I heard what you said.”

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I should have asked if it was okay to talk ab-“ he stopped when he heard a harsh tsk come from Ten’s mouth.

“What? Should have asked if it was okay to use me to get your weekly high?” Xiaojun blinked slowly, not comprehending what the other was getting at.

“What do you mean?” Ten got up and walked over to where Xiaojun stood.

“Don’t play dumb. I heard you talk about it to them. We have great hearing, remember?” He had never heard Ten talk in such a sarcastic and harsh tone before. Anger was rising to the surface through his speech and it was scaring Xiaojun.

“Really, baby, I don’t-“ he reached out to rub Ten’s arm soothingly. He dodged the touch and glared at him.

“The euphoria you feel when I bite you. The high you get from my pheromones. All the things I thought you didn’t care about. Using me to feel those intense peaks. You even said it yourself, you could become addicted to them.

“If you think you can use me, forget it. I don’t need this again. I refuse to let my heart be played with. When you said you wanted to be fully aware of me I thought you would be different, but here I am, being an idiot all over again,” he scoffed.

Xiaojun’s eyes teared up. He stared at the person he was falling for in absolute confusion. Everything Ten had said was wrong, but he would not let him get a word in to defend himself.

“Ten-“

“No. Humans always want the same thing. I can’t blame you guys, really. I get it. I just wish you would have been honest with me from the get go. Was this some weird plot since the beginning? Like, ‘pretend to be scared of the vampire so that he lowers his guard’ kind of shit?” His dark red eyes flickered back forth looking into Xiaojun’s deep caramel ones.

“How could you think that? You were there! You saved me! You saw how stressed I was outside after dark…”

They stared at each other while silence rang in Xiaojun’s ears. He couldn’t really think that could he? Ten searched his face, again and again, the emotions behind his glare changing and softening, only to harden once again.

“Sicheng was wrong,” he finally whispered out.

Wind whipped past him, and his door flung open. Then there was no one.

Trying to piece together what had happened, he blinked at the open door. Xiaojun pulled his phone out of his back pocket and immediately dialed Ten. The line rang and rang until finally he heard the dial tone.

Pulling the phone down from his ear, he quickly typed out a text to Ten explaining what he had actually said and that he must not have heard everything. How he had complimented his loveliness, compassion and attentiveness.

He stared at his phone in hopes that somehow he would read the message and come running back so that they could talk this out, and solve whatever issues Ten obviously had with what he had said. However, several minutes passed, and Xiaojun needed to shut his door.

Hearing the lock click, his heart plummeted into his stomach. He had to keep swallowing, telling the tears to stay in his eyes where they were and not fall.

_What was going on?_ He shook his head, his mind reeling.

Things would be fine. Ten would read his messages or call him back and he could explain. They would solve this. Ten had to know how much he truly cared for him.

He had to.

He stood alone in silence in his own apartment, looking at the small indention left in the couch where Ten had just sat. His tiny studio apartment that was always empty, where even his best friends didn’t visit.

Where he had been alone for so long.

Where his ideal day was to sit in the quiet and stillness with a cup ramen and Netflix in the background.

It used to be his soul comfort to be left alone every day, just he and himself alone.

Yet now, the absence of one person made his heart so unbearably empty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments and kudos let a writer know that they don't suck~


	6. Chapter 6

Xiaojun pressed the ‘accept payment’ option and began to type his credit card information into the space provided. This was the third time he had had to add more data onto his phone as he was using it far more frequently. Calls, texts, WhatsApp, social media DMs even, had piled on his phone bills for the month. If an app had a way to contact Ten, he had tried to reach out. He had discovered more random chatting and texting apps than he knew existed, only to enter Ten’s phone number and search for him to no avail.

There was no point in contacting Ten directly, considering all his messages went straight to a voicemail. Not only his, but Hendery, Yangyang, and Lucas’s calls no longer even rang, a clear sign of being blocked. Before Ten had remembered to block his friends, several harsh and furious voicemails were left by the trio.

Had Ten heard those messages? Or did he just delete them all?

A small checkmark pinged onto his computer screen, signaling that the transaction was complete. Xiaojun lowered his laptop and sighed, sinking further into the sofa. His head sat uncomfortably on the hard back of his couch, while his neck stretched too far back to be relaxing. He didn’t care.

The stretch of the skin on his neck was tighter around the fading bites Ten had left behind before Ten himself had left Xiaojun behind.

He sat back up and set his laptop onto his coffee table harder than he meant to. Running his hands through his hair, he willed himself to not think about him. To not cry.

There had been enough crying for the rest of the year in the past two weeks alone.

His hands stopped in his hair and tugged harshly to the point of pain. When his eyes teared up this time, he could just blame it on the physical hurt, not the emotional.

Droplets streamed down his face, pooling onto his chin until they were too heavy. Little dots of darker grey marked his tears among the lighter color of his sweatpants.

When you were young and you had watched your favorite movie or your favorite TV show, even read your favorite book, it stuck with you. You could sit there, close your eyes, and imagine it from having replayed it a million times before.

That’s what Xiaojun would do. The two of them was his favorite story.

It was like a movie reel. He always started from the beginning on that horrible night. It transitioned to the second twist of fate, running into Ten on the sidewalk after work when the sun had already set.

He thought of the short-lived exchange that led to his determinated search for Ten. Whether or not his method of doing so was appropriate, it had led them to his second favorite moment.

Their first confession. Their first kiss. Their first whole day together.

He couldn’t watch Studio Ghibli anymore.

In fact, Xiaojun couldn’t remember the last time he had turned on Netflix.

The movie reel of their short-lived relationship continued in his mind. It switched to their nightly walks, to their funny texts, to him drinking his blood again. How could he forget that intense moment? It was practically tattooed to the inside of his eyelids.

Then, all too soon, their happiness would come to a halt. Xiaojun replayed the words again and again in his head.

The hurt of something from his past was obvious. Ten had said things like “again” and “I thought you were different”. It didn’t take a genius to figure that much out, and Xiaojun was a self-proclaimed prodigy.

He and Ten had only truly been together for three weeks at most. It was shocking to think about, considering their connection and what Xiaojun had felt in that span of time. Of course, he had been thinking of the vampire ever since the first night they met. He supposes he had probably gotten in over his head.

Why was he this affected by someone he had barely even been with? He released his grasp on his hair and lowered his arms, sighing. Tilting his head up to stare at the ceiling, he knew why.

It wasn’t just someone. It was Ten.

Depressed wouldn’t be the word he would use to describe his feelings, although he had heard Yangyang say it. More than anything he was frustrated, angry even, because this whole stupid thing was a misunderstanding.

Why did Ten leave so easily? Why didn’t he try to hear him out? These questions haunted him. Xiaojun knew that if he could sit down with him for five minutes they would be fine again.

Of course, by this point, his friends had all bought their tickets and boarded the ‘Ten is an asshole, why would you try to get him back?’ train. He quickly found out that he couldn’t talk to them about his questions without backlash. They were coming from a good place, but they were wrong.

Xiaojun would fix this. Ten was worth it.

Also, he was extremely stubborn and be dammed if someone tried to put words and ideas into his mouth.

“Stupid vampire. Just text me back, dammit,” he hissed out at his phone screen, which was void of any notifications.

Xiaojun had taken a sick day the Monday after the weekend Ten left him. He also had ended up taking a couple more days off that same week when he found himself staying up all night, waiting in the park that they had often visited, waiting to catch a glance of the vampire.

The first time he had ventured back to their little corner of the park, it had been completely subconscious. It was the second day after Ten had left, and he found himself after work, wandering aimlessly, lost in thought. By the time he had looked up, he realized he was in the park next to his apartment complex.

It might have been some form of self-torture, but Xiaojun decided that he would go back to their secluded corner. When he finally reached it, the lake coming into sight, some part of him expected Ten to be there waiting for him.

Of course, he wasn’t.

Trees swayed in the cold breeze that blew in from the top of the lake, scenting the air. At least, one thing hadn’t changed, and that was the privacy the spot provided.

Xiaojun roamed towards the tree line and sank down to the ground, leaning against the thick trunk. This had been the tree where Ten had kissed him that one night. His fingers came up and traced over the almost nonexistent marks that the vampire had left on him that night.

He wasn’t sure how long he had sat there, just staring out at the lake like some kind of moody teenager, before the chill truly started to get to him. His scarf wasn’t nearly enough to keep the chill out, especially with the added proximity to the cold water.

Grunting, he pushed himself up to stand on his feet, quickly dusting his jeans off. Xiaojun began to give one last sentimental glance at his surroundings, knowing he would probably never come back here, when something caught his eye.

Opposite of the trees, there was a thick throng of bushes and tall rose plants creating an almost maze-like outer appearance. In between the gaps of the foliage, two reddened eyes stood out among the darkness.

“Huh…” Xiaojun stared in stupor. Was that? “Ten! Ten! Please talk to me!”

Jogging, he closed the distance. Just as easily as the eyes appeared, they also vanished. He stood on his tippy toes and tried to navigate the bushes carefully, accidentally pricking his fingers a few times. He only gave up when the chills started to get to him again, and his scarf caught in the barbs.

It had to have been him.

He took out his phone and dialed Ten, just to make sure. It went straight to voicemail, and he quickly hit the end call button. Xiaojun knew he wouldn’t get an answer, but he also now knew that Ten was thinking of him in the same way he had been.

If he even had the slightest of chances to right the situation, Xiaojun would take the opportunity. Therefore, that’s how he found himself going back to their corner again, and again.

He rolled out of bed for work the next day after having pulled another all-nighter, and cursed society for not allowing more sick days. Or even just personal days. Xiaojun couldn’t just call in for an ‘I got my heartbroken by a vampire, who thought I was being an asshole, but really he’s being an asshole and I need to make sure he knows that” day.

As he wrapped a scarf around his neck to trudge out into the cold for the day, he really wished he was still in bed. The temperatures had gone from cold to freezing quickly over the past week and a half. It was as if Mother Nature was reflecting Xiaojun’s own personal feelings into the weather.

When he arrived at work and began to tie the apron around his waist, the back door flung open, smacking him and everyone else near it with a frigid breeze. His boss, Kun, rushed in and rubbed his hands together to warm them.

“Good morning everyone,” he chirped. “As you know, it will probably snow today, which means we will most likely be even busier during breakfast and lunch hours.” Xiaojun heard someone near the dish pit groan.

Kun continued on speaking, giving a small morning pep talk to the other employees present. They would open soon, and Xiaojun felt like he was moving through mud. His head was pounding, and his eyelids kept threatening to snap shut.

“Xiaojun, are you okay?” His head turned to the side to find his boss looking at him with concern. He finally finished tying his apron and forced a small smile to his face.

“Yup, ready for duty.”

“You look exhausted,” Kun crossed his arms. He really was a great boss, but if Xiaojun thought too much about why he was exhausted and how Ten was gone and-

“Nope. All good. Thanks Kun, I’ll see you out there,” he bowed his head slightly and turned to enter the front of the shop in order to set up his station.

When it was his finally his break, Xiaojun had a healthy serving of sleep for lunch. Delicious!

He laid his head onto the cold wooden table in their break room and fell asleep immediately. Unfortunately, his break was over after forty-five minutes, and the alarm on his phone that he had set signaled that his rest was over. Groaning, he tried to wipe the sleep from his eyes and slapped his face lightly to get some color back into it before heading back out.

Walking home after work was nothing more than monotonous. He was no longer scared of the setting sun, nor was he excited by it. All he cared about was getting home and trying to reach Ten again.

He stood waiting for the signal to cross the intersection while demanding his eyes to stay open. Xiaojun’s focus was fuzzy as it registered the small green man appear. His legs moved on autopilot while his mind drifted.

A few minutes into his commute came the one moment of his work day that sparked even the tiniest bit of interest in him. He would pass the blood bar, _Ematici._

A chill spread through his body when he thought back to seeing that other crazy ass vampire get thrown out. Ten had saved him again then, though. Ten always showed up.

Should he just put himself in mortal danger? Xiaojun snorted out loud as soon as the thought passed through his mind. He was starting to sound like the stupid female lead in a drama.

He continued his trek home, picking up the pace when snowflakes started to drift about, carried by the wind. It would be full on snowing soon, and he did not want to walk through that. Keeping his head down, he thought of when he had rushed home due to the darkness and Ten had been here. Looking back, he had felt calmer having the vampire with him that day, no matter the denial he had had in the moment.

A thought struck Xiaojun then. He remembered how Ten had mentioned that he was thirsty that day and so he had come here but didn’t end up drinking anything. Blushing, he recalled how the vampire had ended the night completely satisfied.

Ten spoke on how much he had hated the place, but then why was he so near it the night Minhyung had tried to hurt him?

When Xiaojun got home, he sat down on his bed after grabbing his laptop. Finally, he began typing something besides ‘direct messaging texting apps’ into the search bar.

A conglomeration of articles pertaining to _Ematici_ spread out underneath the search bar. He had never looked more into the blood bar itself, but why should he have? It didn’t pertain to him at all; the bar only held his used-to-be worst fear inside of it. Ten had said something on that night though, that Xiaojun was lucky that he had been visiting a friend? So, maybe there was more to it? Could vampires also live there? Or maybe they were required to take residence near it? It would explain why Ten was so close by when he had come to Xiaojun’s rescue.

Several of the articles were about the restrictions and the laws of the bar itself. How often vampires could attend, what the government deemed necessary for general public to know, and vague statements hoping this would bring their society closer together.

There were a few other links that popped up at the bottom of one new page, linking to other reports of blood bars around the world.

With this discovery, Xiaojun was finally able to learn something.

He flicked through countless short articles detailing different types of blood bars, and how they varied based on the culture and the most wide spread religion of each country or region. Honestly, it was fascinating how much they had thought this out in order to be accommodating to both humans and vampires.

An article claimed that it was very common for lower budget or chain blood bars to also include separate housing for the day. Almost like a bed and breakfast. You pay for an all in one, both feeding and stay.

Xiaojun highlighted some key words in the article and used it to search for more information on these particular types of places and whether or not _Ematici_ could be one.

Two cups of hot tea and one muted friend group chat later, Xiaojun was sure he probably knew more about blood bars across the world than even the oldest vampire.

Unfortunately, the consensus across the board seemed to be that most high-end bars did not also include room and board. He had only found one example of this at a place in Bangkok, Thailand. It was in the highest sky rise in the country and the pictures they had uploaded to their website were probably the fanciest shit Xiaojun had ever seen.

He wondered if Ten had ever visited that place and stayed there when he lived in Thailand. Honestly, Ten could already be back in Thailand, relaxing on the top floor of this fancy ass bar, fang deep into some gorgeous person for all Xiaojun knew.

Well, Xiaojun himself had never been inside of _Ematici,_ so maybe it was that fancy? He could always go in and ask right?

There’s no way that as soon as he stepped through the door there would be a vampire unhinged, ready to bite his neck. He could just find someone who worked there and say he was asking for a friend. In and out, and once they gave him an answer he could go from there.

A sigh passed his lips as he finally shut his laptop and brought his wrist up to look at his watch. It had just turned to 11pm. Time to head out to the park again.

Another unsuccessful night out at the park near his apartment later, Xiaojun walked zombielike to his morning shift once again. It was slightly warmer today, in that it wouldn’t snow anymore and the frost that stuck to the edges of the city would slowly melt during the day. This time he didn’t have to wrap his scarf around his neck until he was a walking ball of clothing with eyes.

For the first time since Ten had ghosted him, Xiaojun actually had a decent day at work. He had resolved that he would just go in and ask the blood bar his question on the way home. It was nice to find a different path he could take to maybe reach the vampire once and for all.

A nap was once again what he had for lunch, but he actually sent Kun a genuine soft smile when he got back from break that caused his boss to nearly drop the espresso shot he had just poured.

“Oh wow, you look better today Xiaojun! Finally get some rest?”

“Not really, but I think today is going to be the most productive one I’ve had in awhile.” Kun beamed at his answer.

The speed in his steps wasn’t due to anxiety or the chill, but genuine excitement. Any normal person would probably be at least a little bit scared of doing what he was about to do. Even Yangyang would probably hesitate, but Xiaojun just needed to talk to Ten.

He would set the record straight. Not only did he have genuine feelings for the other, but he also had never once used him for any of the things he had accused him of.

Crossing the street, his heartbeat started to pick up. As the neon letters that were just starting to shine due to the setting sun came into view, Xiaojun took a deep breath. He prepared himself for what he would see once he pushed open the glass doors, something that he had spent forever fearing.

Even if he was unable to ever speak to Ten again, he had to give the vampire some credit. Because of him, he’d grown much stronger mentally. He was literally staring what used to be his biggest fear right in the face.

His wind tousled brown hair and loosely wrapped scarf reflected back at him through the doors. Just inside the glass, he could see what seemed to be some kind of lobby, but everything else was too warped to be able to make it out.

Turning his head upwards to read the sign _Ematici,_ he also noticed some people had slowed to look at him. Hands cupped to their faces in order to whisper to one another at the boy in front of the vampire blood bar. They might have suspected him of being a vampire, in which case the whispering wouldn’t help; he would have been able to hear every single thing they said.

But he was just a human.

He reached his right hand out and gently nudged the pristine glass forward. The door slid open smoothly as he stepped inside the building. When he let his hand fall from the door, fingerprints were left in its wake. Dirtying what had been spotless.

_There had to be some kind of metaphor in there somewhere, right?_ He thought.

The lobby was clean, swirling marble tile, etched with colors of black, emerald and white. Directly in front of him was a small counter with two pretty women standing behind it, a computer in front of either of them. Pillars stretched up in each corner of the room, leading up to a massive ceiling adorned with chandeliers.

“Oh fuck,” he whispered out of reflex at the sight. It screamed expensive.

Xiaojun cleared his throat and approached the front desk, favoring the woman on the right because she had a coffee in front of her on the counter. If all else failed, he could make some lame connection to being a barista.

Clearing his throat, he stood politely, hands folded in front of his body looking at the woman. They were both currently plucking away on the keyboard sat in front of them, not having even looked up once since he entered.

“Sorry, uh,” the woman’s eyes snapped up and narrowed slightly as she looked him over once. Xiaojun read her name tag, “Sorry to bother you, Soonyoung, is it?”

Her hair was dark and long, with fashionable bangs resting on her forehead. The fact that her lips were stained a deep blood red almost made Xiaojun laugh at the irony.

“Yes, my name is Soonyoung. May I help you?” He opened his mouth to respond before the other woman also looked over and seized him up.

“You’re not a regular customer, are you? Lost, honey? We can give you directions to where you need to go.” She had already begun rifling around beneath her desk looking for something to hand to Xiaojun.

“Oh, no. No thank you, I mean. I just... had a question about the bar?” He clasped his hands together in nervousness.

The other woman straightened back up, a map held in her hand. She placed it gently on the desk and looked over to the other woman. They were both stunning, and Xiaojun thought that maybe these two might be vampires themselves.

“I’m sorry. We don’t give out explicit information about _Ematici_ to nonpatrons or curious passersbys,” Soonyoung answered in a curt but polite tone.

“I was just curious about if the bar has r-“

“Maybe he’s here to apply, don’t be so harsh.”

The other woman leaned her elbows onto the dark polished wood, sizing up Xiaojun. Her hair was up in a bun, pieces of dark brown hair loosely framing her face.

“Oh sorry, Seulgi, you’re right. They just usually don’t come to us up front, you know?” Seulgi nodded in agreement. “So then, can I get your information? We can set you up with an interview tonight, actually.”

It was obvious Xiaojun was out of his element, and most vampire things still went directly over his head. However, he was pretty sure they thought he was here to apply to be fed on which was far from correct. He needed to backpedal immediately.

Footsteps echoed to the right of the front desk where a marble staircase was located between two pillars. The echo of the clicking sound made Xiaojun realize just how silent it had been since he walked through the front doors. Even the throngs of traffic couldn’t be heard from inside.

Both of the women turned their heads to the staircase in order to see who was approaching. If it was some big, scary vampire... okay Xiaojun had decided that he would let them know, firmly, that he had no interest in applying at all. He could just try harder with his research online, regroup, and approach this from a different angle.

“So, I’ll just be going now, if that’s oka-“

“Ah, sir! Did you need any help from us, have you decided on a donor?”

Soonyoung was acting as if Xiaojun wasn’t even there; her eyes were laser focused onto the stairway. Seulgi was no better either, smiling brightly with her head dipped in greeting.

Turning his head, he saw that someone had come to a halt at the end of the steps. Said someone was tall, somewhere between lean and lanky, and extremely handsome. He was dressed in a dark suit, with short, dark brown hair styled upwards in a messy array.

Also, he was looking right at Xiaojun.

The man stepped forward, his eyes locked onto him. His eyes that were a bright red.

“It’s alright, I can wait. He was obviously here first.”

Looking up at the other, Xiaojun wondered if it was a requirement to be handsome. Like, if once you became a vampire, even if you were ugly before, you automatically became gorgeous. The smile the vampire sent him was small, and seemed genuine, so he bowed his head to the other and turned back to Soonyoung to excuse himself.

“He’s signing up to be a new donor!” Xiaojun’s head snapped towards Seulgi, who was looking directly at the vampire, whose eyebrows rose in interest.

“Oh, wow, really? You don’t seem the type. I can definitely show you around and help you settle into the place, if you’re interested?”

“Uhhh…” he stared open mouthed at the vampire.

He could actually look around, and he could definitely ask the other whether or not vampires also lived here.

“But, sir, we don’t do that until after the paperwork, and also he could be… dangerous?” The way the woman said it sounded definitely more of a question than a statement. Xiaojun knew he was small, especially compared to this vampire, so he tried not to take offence.

“I think I can handle my own,” the man responded in a polite tone. “So, what do you say?”

This was a bad idea. This was an extremely stupid idea. The worst idea he had ever had.

“Okay.”

“Great!” The vampire smiled brilliantly, and Xiaojun was charmed by the fact that it took on an almost boxy shape. “I’ll just show you where things are and if you’re still interested, Soonyoung can take your information afterwards.”

“O-okay.”

The vampire sent a little wave of his hand towards the women and gestured for Xiaojun to walk in front of him, back up the stairs which he had come.

The silence from the lobby stretched up onto the next floor too. All Xiaojun was able to hear was the soft pat of their shoes against the plush carpeting. He wondered if maybe it was because of the vampire’s extra sensitive hearing.

“Well, welcome to _Ematici_!” He gestured broadly with a tiny smile that made his cheeks plump up like mochi. They started down a hallway that tapered off to the right. “I don’t actually work here, but I’ve been here for so long it feels like I do at this point,” he chuckled.

“Of course the people who end up being ‘donors’ don’t usually get to see this section unless they’re booked for a one-on-one room. The rooms down this hallway are those rooms! Usually if you get called up here you will receive extra payment, but of course that’s something they will explain to you if you decide to take the job. Here, let me show you what they usually look like inside.”

Doors littered the hallway, all made out of glossy, dark redwood. The vampire turned the knob on the door, once again gesturing for Xiaojun to step through first.

Plush red couches were pushed against either side of the rather large room. The floors were more of the same marble from the lobby, but there was a thick, fluffy rug stretched through the middle. Of course the centerpiece of the room was a giant bed in a matching red color.

Xiaojun heard the door click shut behind him, and he immediately whipped around to face the vampire who had a dark look in his eyes. The man’s eyes flickered around the room before settling back onto him.

He took large strides and went to the couch on the left and sat, sighing, and patting the spot next to him.

In other news, he was pretty sure he was locked in some kind of creepy sexy room with a vampire. He felt like the dumb person in a horror film that went down to the basement where the killer was while the whole audience screamed at the screen to run.

After Xiaojun continued standing and staring, the vampire slowly retracted his hand from where he had been gesturing for him to sit.

“Okay, I mean, you don’t have to sit,” he spoke out and crossed his legs, placing his hands on his knees. “Why are you looking to work here?”

If he told him he wasn’t planning on it, would he just kill him… or let him go? Should he lie?

“Uhhh…”

“I’m surprised you’re so nervous. Your heart is beating so loudly. I figured if you were willing and wanting to work here you would be used to vampires and their proximity. Also you have that on your neck,” the vampire pointed to Xiaojun who looked down to see that his scarf had unwrapped from his neck.

He had changed out of the thin turtle neck he wore at work before leaving because it didn’t go with his oversized sweater. The scarf was supposed to be good enough, but he had majorly miscalculated. Small, almost faded bite marks appeared in three separate places on Xiaojun’s neck. They were barely even pink, almost completely faded back to normal.

“Now tell me, why do you want to work here?” The vampires gaze flashed a bright red and Xiaojun found himself unable to stay quiet, his infamous habit of being unable to shut up when he really should have coming forth.

“Honestly, I don’t want to. I was literally about to tell the lady, Soonyoung? You know the front desk lady? Of course you know, anyways. I don’t want to, I just had a question but they were like no we won’t tell you,” he mimicked the woman’s voice before pausing for a breath. It gave him a second to take in the look of utter confusion on the vampire’s face.

“I just really had one question because I’m looking for someone, but like not in that kinda weird like ‘vampire fuck me way’. Well, actually maybe a little, but anyways. It was more like he was forcing his own narrative onto me? And I just-“ He was caught off by a light tinkling of laughter from the other.

“Oh wow, that’s great! I’m glad! I was going to try my hardest to convince you not to work here, and to run away from whoever gave you those bites.” Xiaojun couldn’t hold a scoff.

“He actually ran away from me, so no problem there,” he grumbled before the rest of what the vampire had said hit him. “Wait, you mean to tell me… You, a vampire, took me up to this sex room just to convince me to not work here?”

“Yeah, exactly!”

The boxy smile was back on his face as he stood up from the couch and crossed over to Xiaojun. He couldn’t help but to take an involuntary step backwards, as the other outstretched his arm in a greeting.

“I’m Sicheng, nice to meet you. Whatever question you have about this place, I can probably answer. The reason why I brought you in here is because they don’t keep tabs on the inside of the rooms. So no asshole can come and bitch at me for discouraging new blood to join.”

The thought that vampires wouldn’t want more humans to drink from had never crossed his mind. He grabbed Sicheng’s hand timidly and shook it in a greeting.

Also, his name was Chinese, and for some reason he felt like he had heard it before? Maybe that was one of the names of a distant cousin or something? Xiaojun could figure it out later.

“Well, I just wanted to know if vampires can live here? Do they take up a residency because I was reading that usually it’s just more of the middle range to low priced blood bar’s that have that option.”

“Oh. You did your research.”

“Yeah. I’m looking for someone, and so I’ve been trying to figure out how to contact him because I have some things I need to tell him,” he huffed out.

“The same person who gave you those bite marks?”

Xiaojun nodded reluctantly, clenching and unclenching his fists. Sicheng cocked his head to the side before shaking it back and forth slowly.

“I don’t know why so many humans fall in love with the ones who feed off of them,” he sighed turning to pace back towards the couch. “I understand it feels great, but I would say probably 80% of vampires have no real interest in humans other than to feed. And if you were trying to find them here, chances are they’re not one of the good ones.”

“No, you don’t get it,” Xiaojun pleaded, refusing to be misunderstood this time. “He hated these places. I’ve tried to contact him any way I can because he thought I was just using him when really it’s…” he trailed off in embarrassment.

Did he really almost just say that he loved Ten to a stranger? Who was also a vampire on top of that? … did he love Ten? He stood brooding, caught up in his own whirlwind of thoughts, debating the best way to convince this vampire to help him.

“Wait, what did you say your name was?” Sicheng appeared in front of him in a flurry. Eagerness and determination flashed in his eyes, and Xiaojun couldn’t help but to take several steps backwards.

“I didn’t say…”

“There’s no way, right?” Sicheng asked more to himself than the other. He had to strain just to make the words out. The vampire’s crimson eyes scrutinized him and narrowed before he spoke once more.

“Are you Xiaojun?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments and kudos are to writers as dancing and talent is to Ten~


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter! I hope you've enjoyed going on this journey with me. Truly there's no way I couldn have done it without my beta and a certain friend who I will name after reveals! 
> 
> TW// Blood and Violence

“…Huh?” Xiaojun ever so eloquently returned as an answer to the vampire.

“I said, are you Xiaojun?”

“How do you know my name?” Sicheng shot him his boxy smile, and clapped his hands together once.

“I’m Ten’s best friend!”

Oh.

Okay.

For some reason, those were the last words he had expected to come out of the vampire’s mouth. So then, what did this mean for Xiaojun? This was practically a straight lead to Ten, which was exactly what he wanted! However, Sicheng was smiling so genuinely. Shouldn’t he hate Xiaojun if Ten had told him what he had accused him of?

He almost always automatically hated any other person his best friend’s hated too. It was, like, the friend pact.

Now that the idea of seeing Ten once again was extremely real, frustration sprung back up in Xiaojun’s mind. Should he even talk to the vampire? He had reduced his own character to some blood thirsty slut, which he definitely was not.

But, that’s exactly why he needed to talk to him, to clear his name! So then if-

“Sorry, but I can see the wheels spinning in your head. You haven’t even moved…” Sicheng interjected, cutting the flow of Xiaojun’s inner thoughts.

“I’m just… why do you look so happy?” He shook his head in confusion. Did anything ever make sense with vampires?

“Oh! Because Ten is a fucking idiot, and now that I’ve met you I can say that with absolute confidence.”

Xiaojun sputtered in shock, spit landing on the vampire, who cringed and wiped it away. He stood opened mouthed at Sicheng, the cogs in his brain getting jammed with the confession that Ten’s ‘best friend’ had just stated.

“Ten is a-?”

“An idiot, yeah!” Shaking his head resolutely, the vampire wiped at his sleeves lightly, making sure he had gotten rid of Xiaojun’s spit.

“I know what he said and did to you. Of course, you were there, so I don’t have to rehash it. But, I saw how keen he was on you, and the past couple of months since he had met you, even. He was just,” he shrugged, “different than usual.

“Ten comes back one night and tells me this crazy story of some really cute human boy who made him break his ‘no interacting’ policy. That he even went so far as to pummel a group of giant men to save said human.” Sicheng’s eyes turned serious, “He doesn’t do that. So, when he tells me that the boy he saved offered up anything in return for Ten saving him, I immediately thought that he had drank from you. Which would be normal for us! But no, he instead carries you home, halfway across the city, after healing you and contacting your friends to make sure you were safe.

“I’ve known something was up since then. When you two ran into one another once more, and then again after that… you were always everything he talked about. ‘Oh Sichengie, Xiaojun has a sweater like that!’ ‘Did you know Xiaojun works as a barista? We should drink more coffee.’ ‘Xiaojun is scared of the dark, but he conquered his fear to find me, isn’t that romantic?’” The vampire cringed after mimicking Ten.

The heat from embarrassment made Xiaojun tug his scarf completely off and advert his eyes to anywhere else besides Sicheng. It was one thing knowing that you were falling for someone since you first met, but a completely different thing to find out the same person you had been pining over had felt the same way too.

But then again, why had Ten been able to leave him so easily? Why wouldn’t he talk to him?

“Well, he sure ran away from everything as fast as he could,” Xiaojun scoffed out, shaking his head.

“Yeah, there’s a bit more to it than that, but I agree with you. Ten’s stupid. Of course, there’s always a high chance that a human you’re feeding off of becomes attached, but the way he had described you… You just didn’t seem the type to,” Sicheng eyed him up and down, before smiling softly. “And now that I’ve met you, I know for a fact that you’re not the type. Honestly, I can’t believe you would even come here into _Ematici_ to find him. I’m impressed.” Xiaojun couldn’t help but to smile with pride.

“Well, I wasn’t going to just sit around and let him believe that I was some vampire whore,” his voice became soft, and the smile slipped from his face. “I really liked him- well… do like. Stupid vampire.” Sicheng giggled quietly at that and reached out to pat Xiaojun’s shoulder lightly.

“Alright, he’ll probably hate me for this, but he’s staying at my place, wallowing in his poor choices. I think it’d really help if you guys talked it out, I mean… he isn’t even feeding. I can take you to him if you want?” Xiaojun nodded his head, eyes growing wide at the realiation that Ten wasn’t even taking care of himself.

“Yeah, of course.”

“Okay, now let’s get out of this hell hole.”

Sicheng explained to Xiaojun that his home was towards the outer part of the city, and apologized for not having a mode of transportation. He said that he usually just ran everywhere since it was the fastest way to get around for him.

It turns out that Xiaojun’s suspicions had been right as well, that plenty of vampires did take resident in the top floors of _Ematici._ He also found out that there were actually quite a few more vampires living in the city than anyone else had suspected. Of course, only coming out at nighttime, and avoiding humans for the most part probably had something to do with it. Sicheng wasn’t even surprised when Xiaojun had said that Ten was the first vampire he had ever met.

“Honestly, the fact that he was even there that night outside the bar is a miracle in and of itself.”

“Really?” Xiaojun whispered back, curiosity coloring his voice. Sicheng hummed in affirmation.

They had chased down a taxi, which Xiaojun flagged down using his superior city-goer skills. Sicheng was comically confused by the whole display and looked at him like he was an idiot until Xiaojun explained.

Apparently, Sicheng was even older than Ten.

The vampire spent the entirety of the cab ride softly murmuring about himself, throwing in a story of Ten every so often. Xiaojun had to hold himself back from bursting into laughter several times, especially at one anecdote Sicheng referred to as the ‘fruit debacle’.

Warmth spread through his chest as he found out more and more about Ten. Xiaojun also appreciated Sicheng’s willingness to answer any of the questions he had regarding vampires. He was pleasantly transparent and forthcoming.

He had been so caught up in Ten’s charm, their intense chemistry and absurd banter to really ever venture into that kind of territory. Maybe if they had, he wouldn’t be having this problem in the first place.

Sighing softly, Xiaojun looked out the window, observing the outer city sights. There was so much more room to see the sky clearly, and the view of houses and small businesses was nothing if not charming. However, he couldn’t distract himself from the mounting sense of urgency that was creeping under his skin. Each moment that brought them closer to Ten and a confrontation, made his skin crawl with anticipation.

Fueled by his anxiety, Xiaojun had trouble focusing on Sicheng’s soft banter. His mind was racing a mile a minute, every possible outcome flying through his mind.

Would Ten listen? Would he run away? Did he have any regrets?

He exhaled out a shaky breath, thankful that he had met Sicheng. Knowing that even if Ten tried to jump ship, the other vampire would be on his side. It was obvious that he was rooting for Ten’s happiness, and he kept alluding to something that Ten needed to explain to Xiaojun.

Of course, that made him anxious too.

The ride was much longer than Xiaojun had anticipated, and thus the taxi fee was much higher than he had anticipated as well. Shooting a ‘you better pay me back look’ at Sicheng, he counted through the wad of bills once more, before handing them over to the driver.

“Sorry, like I said I’m not used to driving really,” the vampire said, flustered.

“It’s fine, just remember you owe me.” Sicheng held his hands up in defeat, reassuring Xiaojun that he would be repaid in full.

The two stepped onto a sidewalk decorated with huddled apartment buildings, each one pressed closely up against the other. A large construction site was laid out behind the building closest to them, and a gas station was across the street, its neon sign flickering.

Xiaojun turned and put a hand on Sicheng’s arm, who stopped walking and turned to him. The vampire stared at him waiting, while Xiaojun looked up and down the road, scowling at the lack of street lights.

“This place is fucking creepy,” he complained. Sicheng stared, blankly blinking twice.

“But it’s cheap,” the vampire answered, a pout settling on his lips. How an immortal creature that was a couple centuries old could look so cute, Xiaojun would never know.

“Okay, well then let’s just go. Which place is yours,” he grunted out, crossing his arms awkwardly.

“It’s right over here,” he pointed to the right building behind them.

It was only four stories tall, and even if the area was kind of shady, the building itself really didn’t look too bad. The entrance had a gate over it, and it looked like it had some kind of a voice box too. The two walked over, crossing to the front of the apartment as Sicheng fished around in his back pocket, his tongue poking out.

“Aha!” He chanted out, pulling his key forth. The vampire began whispering expletives when the key jammed. Sicheng pulled it back out, blew on it, then stuck it back into the lock on the gated door, and struggled with it a bit before it finally creaked open.

“Got it!” He smiled his boxy smile at Xiaojun, who sent him a judging look.

There was another door, this one see-through, after that led to a small room, which they entered. The wall in front of them displayed each apartment’s individual mailbox, a few of the letter boxes hanging on by their hinges only. Two elevators were to their right, a key card box next to either one.

Fluorescent light definitely wasn’t the most flattering, and Xiaojun allowed himself to spare a couple of seconds to hope that Sicheng’s apartment was at least lighted better. He didn’t want to look like a gremlin when he saw Ten for the first time after all this fighting.

Sicheng walked forward to the mailboxes, unlocking one on the top row and pulling out a couple of envelopes and a magazine before quickly shutting it again. The vampire continued whistling as he crossed to the elevators and reached into his back pocket once more.

The feeling of urgency that had come over Xiaojun in the taxi was back again. Fidgeting, he looked back out the door seeing nothing. It was probably just his anxiety.

Crossing his arms, he began to tap his foot uncomfortably before turning his head to take everything in once more, the cracked tile, dirty walls, and the buzzing of electricity. His gaze ended up focused on the entrance again. The gate was shut, so why did he feel like… he shook his head. No it was nothing.

Turning around with a sheepish look on his face, Sicheng grimaced in what must have been an attempt at a smile.

“So, I have good news and bad news,” he finally spoke.

“I’m sorry?” Xiaojun crossed his arms tighter across his chest.

“Well, we finally got that edition of French Vogue which Ten has been wanting for a month!” He held up the magazine and waved it enthusiastically. Xiaojun frowned.

“Then what’s the bad news?”

“Uh, I may have lost my key card that we have to have to access the elevators…” They stared at each other in silence for a few moments before Xiaojun sighed deeply.

“Okay, so what do we do? Can you call Ten to let us in?”

“No, he avoids his phone like the plague since you guys,” Xiaojun’s brows furrowed, “well, you know. Usually if I forget it, I kind of just climb the building and knock on the window?”

“You CLIMB the BUILDING?” Xiaojun asked, his eyes budging out of his head. He knew vampires were fast and strong, but jeez! Climbing a four story building? Maybe he had been right to be terrified in the first place…

“Listen, it will take a minute at the longest- well the elevators are slow,” Sicheng rubbed his face in thought. “Maybe, three minutes?” Xiaojun stared aghast at the vampire.

“You expect me to wait here alone in this creepy ass building? Can’t we just wait to see if someone leaves, and then get in the elevator that way?”

“I would say yes, but barely anyone else lives here so it could be like… hours.” He said in defeat.

Xiaojun’s foot began tapping even more rapidly, his eyes shooting around the room. He really didn’t feel comfortable being left here alone. What if someone did come down, and they were a creeper and tried to make a move on him? Or worse, what if Sicheng just left him here and never came back? He wouldn’t do that to him, would he?

“I promise I’ll be fast. As soon as I get up there, I’ll come straight back down. I won’t even say hi to Ten,” he spoke sincerely.

Looking into the vampire’s eyes, they came across as candid and honest. In fact, Sicheng’s eyes were as bright red as Ten’s had been when he was extremely thirsty. He had been alone with the vampire on many occasions today, and not once had he made a move to creep on him. Looking down at the floor, Xiaojun exhaled shakily.

“O-okay. Fine, but please,” he looked earnestly at Sicheng, “please go quickly.” The vampire nodded resolutely.

“I’ll be fast.”

And fast he was.

Sicheng zipped out the door and the gate as fast as lighting, Xiaojun’s human eyes were struggling to keep his focus on the other. The gated door creaked loudly when it was thrown open by the vampire and then only the sound of crickets and the humming of the lights could be heard.

Looking around, Xiaojun tried to find anything that would distract him for the next couple of minutes. He paced the empty room, his steps echoing off of the cheap tile, a vast contrast in quality from where he had been earlier in the _Ematici_. His gaze drifted back out to the front door, feeling that strange tug of unsettledness in his stomach.

When he looked through the glass door of the room, he noticed that the gated door was still ajar. Probably due to how strongly Sicheng had flung through it, it was now wedged open on the uneven gravel, stuck for anyone to enter.

Xiaojun felt strange. He really needed to shut that gate or else he was probably going to stand here and have a panic attack for two more minutes.

Pushing the room’s door open, he stepped out, head whipping side to side to check his surroundings. It was completely empty, save for one person currently filling up their gas tank across the street.

His feet crunched on top of the gravel, crossing the short distance to the gate. Keeping his body tucked behind the gate as best as he could, his arm reached forward to grab the inside of the door.

People say that when horrible things happen, they pass by in slow motion.

However, they couldn’t be more wrong.

Xiaojun felt a tight grip on his wrist and felt a small snap. Did a bone break? He was thrown forward into the street and saw that other vampire, (Minhyung was it?) standing above him, eyes bleeding red, smiling in absolute insanity.

“Well hello there, cutie,” his voice growled out, sounding as if he had eaten shards of glass for dinner.

Before Xiaojun could so much as think to respond, he saw a blur of a fist and then darkness.

The actors in action movies really weren’t overreacting when they portrayed waking back up after being knocked out.

Xiaojun’s head swam with immense pain, a constant pounding behind his eyes that made him want to keep them closed. A specific pin needle of agony was directly in the middle of his forehead and directly on the back of his scalp. That must have been where he had taken the hit and then knocked into the concrete below him.

After doing some breathing exercises that he had learned from that one yoga class Hendery had made him go to, he was able to open his eyes marginally. He squinted out at his surroundings, trying to gather his bearings. It was some kind of… parking garage maybe? Or maybe a big ass abandoned… something.

Xiaojun groaned and leaned his head backwards, which he immediately regretted once it came into contact with the chair he was sitting on. Well, sitting was sort of the correct word to use, considering he had his hands taped behind his back and to the chair.

God, when he had joked about feeling like he was the main protagonist in a novel, he had meant a romance book, not a horror/action.

Things were vaguely blurry, but the more he breathed the better his focus became. It wasn’t just his head that was throbbing, his body was littered with random aches and pains. His wrist stung horribly, like someone had stuck a thousand needles into it, but his left forearm is where it really hurt.

He carefully moved his head to look down at his arm to see what had caused the pain. A thick, blunt cut was carved into his limb as blood seeped down, coloring his skin and jeans. You didn’t have to be a vampire to tell how saturated the air was with the smell of blood.

Xiaojun took more deep breaths, trying to remain calm and figure a couple of things out.

**One** : Crazy, asshole vampire that Ten told him to be extremely careful of because he likes to ‘play with his food’ had kidnapped him.

**Two** : He may or may not have a concussion.

**Three** : Lightheadedness was becoming an extreme factor in his ability to focus on more than three points, due to both the head injury and apparent blood loss.

“Damn platelets, can’t you do your job,” Xiaojun wheezed out, trying to will his arm to stop bleeding and clot already.

“Ah, I see you’re awake. Finally, I kind of almost thought I had already killed you, which wouldn’t have been any fun.”

Minhyung appeared directly in Xiaojun’s line of sight in an instant. His dark brown hair was straggly; a few pieces that framed his face were even matted. Cherry red eyes stared down at him, the brightest red on any vampire he had ever seen.

To put it mildly, he looked absolutely crazed.

“No offense, but are you okay? You kinda look like you’ve gone off the deep end,” Xiaojun quipped softly at the vampire, his face immediately losing the menacing smirk.

“I haven’t fed in almost a month,” Minhyung came close, placing his hands on the chair Xiaojun was taped to, leaning into his personal space. The vampire buried his head into his neck and breathed in deeply, the sound of inhaling echoing in his ears.

“Well,” Xiaojun cleared his throat, “why didn’t you feed?”

The vampire sprung straight back up, staring down. It was as if death itself had decided to take residence in his eyes when they locked gazes. Minhyung stalked forward, breaching the gap and moved his hand forward to loom above Xiaojun’s wound.

He smirked once more, before bringing his hand down and pressing harshly into the slash on his forearm.

Xiaojun couldn’t help the shallow scream that ripped itself from his throat, while the vampire brought his bloody fingers up to his mouth, tasting. Tears sprung to his eyes as he stared at Minhyung in shock.

“Hmmm, what an intelligent question! Why didn’t I just feed?” The vampire began pacing around Xiaojun. “Well, it was all thanks to your boyfriend, Ten! Remember that night we first met? It was a beautiful night after all.” He stopped in front of Xiaojun once again, smiling down, looking almost nostalgic.

“Y-yes.”

“Good! Because I remember it very clearly.” The vampire flicked the other’s fringe out of his eyes. “We were having a nice little time! I was going to get my blood, you were drunk enough that it wouldn’t have even hurt, blah blah blah.

“But of course, Mr. Goody Two Shoes showed up just in time to be the fantastic hero and save the day!” He scowled before continuing to pace, “Ten went and told our little guild of vampires, I guess you could call it. The head honchos; the ones in charge. Boy was I cast out of there in a flash.”

A bitter laugh ripped itself from his chest, startling Xiaojun, causing him to flinch and immediately hiss out in pain at the movement. Minhyung looked down at his face, observing it closely. The vampire took his chin between two fingers and harshly moved it about as if inspecting him. Seemingly unsatisfied, he pushed Xiaojun’s face down, causing his vision to swim.

“I don’t understand him. Sure, you’re cute, but nothing to write home about. Certainly not cute enough to finally try and bring me down,” he scoffed. “He should know what he’s getting into when it comes to me.”

“I don’t understand,” Xiaojun whispered, each breath he took rattling in his chest. Minhyung looked down at him in disbelief.

“Did he really not tell you?”

“Tell me what?” The vampire sneered.

“That he’s the reason I’m a vampire.”

He had stated it so matter-of-factly, it took Xiaojun several belated moments in order to truly process what the vampire had said. So had Ten turned him? Or, what had Sicheng explained earlier in the cab, sired him? Not understanding what the other meant, he couldn’t stop his word vomit.

“Okay, and? Did you not want to become a vampire or something? Oh no, not immortality,” he said in as much of a mocking voice as he could muster in his current state.

“No, being a vampire is nice, but being fucked over and basically sentenced to death by the love of your life is another thing entirely.” Minhyung’s smile widened the more Xiaojun’s face fell at the revelation. “You heard me. Ten was the absolute love of my life.”

Tracing a finger up the side of Xiaojun’s face, his fangs were on full display. The vampire’s touch trailed over his pulse point and circled around his neck over his Adam’s apple. Xiaojun felt like a piece of meat being sized up

“I don’t understand,” he whispered so quietly that if he wasn’t talking to a vampire, there’s no way he would have heard.

“Then let me explain. Fifty years ago, give or take a couple years, Tennie and I became good pals. I was in a horribly rough spot, and so I signed up to give my blood to vampires,” Minhyung spoke close to Xiaojun’s face. He recoiled at the smell of his own blood on the vampire’s tongue.

“You can guess where we met. He realized that I was in a bad place and got me out of there, in exchange for being his little blood bag. So Tennie and I went on dates, he fucked me constantly, and I thought we were in love! Of course, the high from the venom was an added bonus,” he winked.

“Yadda yadda yadda, blah blah blah, long story short I was just his meal and his fuck toy. Sure, I became a bit dependent on him, but who wouldn’t. I mean look at you, you went out every night looking for him once he left you. Sitting all sad and alone in that pathetic, overgrown park.”

“How did y-“

“How did I know?” Minhyung cut him off, “Because I always keep tabs on Tennie. You had become attached to his hip; therefore, I kept close tabs on you as well.”

“The-then,” Xiaojun stuttered, swallowing loudly in an attempt to keep his eyes from watering. “Then was that you, i-in the park that once?”

A smug look stretched lazily over the vampire’s features before he cleared his throat.

“Ten! Ten! Please talk to me!” Minhyung mocked in a high-pitched, grating voice.

Xiaojun couldn’t help the tears now, as they pooled high enough to spill over onto his cheeks. Damn, had he been that stupid this whole time? He had been willingly putting himself directly into this monster’s grasp.

“So anyways, back to my story. Ten had finally grown sick of me, and I was there begging on my knees for him to keep me, that I loved him, that he was my everything. But, he still threw me out onto the streets for the next vampire to pick up, and oh did they pick me up. When I went back to the shady clinic I had worked at before I met Ten, all the vampires had heard tale of me. I had become some ‘famous lover’ of Ten’s.

“I also became an easy target. They absolutely devoured me, mind and soul, and I had no choice but to hand myself over to them. I became their precious little blood bag, and Tennie just left me out to rot. It was only a matter of time before I died, but damn, look at me now.

“I hope you can understand a bit better why I’m not as fond of him as you seem to be. I’ve been filled with lust for revenge for decades, and waltzing into his life has made you the easiest target yet.”

“No, you don’t understand. T-ten wants nothing to do with me! He threw me out, claimed I was using him. Having me won’t affect him at all…” Xiaojun pleaded, his words fading to nothing, not having the strength to stay passionate. Minhyung cackled at his statement, before sighing.

“I guess Ten likes them dumb, huh? I was a pretty stupid human, too,” the vampire paced around him to the back of the chair, placing his hands on either side of Xiaojun’s head and pulling his head backwards so that he could see the other.

“Trust me, you’re perfect bait.”

In reality, it could have been only two minutes, but with his head and heart pounding it felt like hours that Xiaojun was sat there. He got nowhere when he tried to talk to Minhyung, except just more harsh treatment. Unfortunately, the motor mouth gene was hard to silence.

“I get why you knocked me out, but why did you have to cut my arm. Really, it’s just unnecessary because if-“

The sound of the back handed slap that ricocheted off of Xiaojun’s face, bounced off the bare floors and walls.

“God, you’re SO LOUD! Do you ever shut up? Jeez.”

The vampire flopped down onto the ground as if he was an exhausted university student, tired after a day of exams. Xiaojun coughed and attempted to clear his throat. He should have expected that, but honestly, he was genuinely curious.

Blood was still slowly dripping onto the floor from the opening in his arm, and at this point, he could tell it would only be a little while longer before he probably passed out again.

“If you must know,” Minhyung pushed himself up to stand, “It’s the perfect trail. He smells your blood that I spilled along the way, in order to lead him easily to me. Now please, for the love of god, stop talking. This will be a lot less fun if I have to knock you out again before he gets here.”

A shaky breath wracked its way through Xiaojun’s lungs as he hung his head in defeat.

God, he should have just remained terrified of everything. Never leaving the apartment wasn’t so bad anyways. Sure, he never saw his friends and rotted away in a hole of takeout food and Netflix, but it was better than whatever this alternative was, that’s for sure.

Suddenly, Minhyung’s impatient demeanor changed to one of absolute alertness. He appeared in a flash, to loom over Xiaojun from behind the chair, and gently rested his hands on either of his shoulders. He knew that this was no common gesture for the vampire; he had seen how strong they were. And the fact that his hands were so close to Xiaojun’s neck?

One wrong move, and he would be dead in an instant.

Xiaojun could hear loud intakes of breath as if Minhyung was scenting the air when he pressed down into his shoulders, causing him to grunt softly at the pressure.

“Two…?” The vampire whispered out in confusion. Xiaojun almost made the dumbass mistake of speaking yet again to ask him what he meant before it became clear.

First Sicheng came into sight, flying into the large empty room, ascending some kind of slope to do so. And then, there was Ten right behind him.

Ten, who he hadn’t seen since he broke his heart. Ten, whose eyes were almost as bright red as Minhyung’s. And Ten, who was now seeing him look busted as fuck for the first time in two weeks

“What the fuck is this Minhyung? Really? You couldn’t just leave him alone? We all know your problem is with me,” Ten yelled out, his voice dripping with anger. It seemed like Ten had poised to move forward because suddenly one of Minhyung’s hands was rested on his neck in a blink.

“Uh uh uh, if you come too close, I’ll kill your little boyfriend here.” Xiaojun couldn’t help but to swallow in fear at that, even if his tongue was dry as sandpaper.

“You know the vampires in charge will kill you for this? They’ve gotten rid of others for doing significantly less.” The hand around Xiaojun’s neck tightened a meager amount, but that alone was enough to stop Ten in his tracks.

“Like you haven’t told them already,” Minhyung scoffed. “You knew they would never let me back in anywhere to feed, and you know very well I’m not able to find willing participants.”

“Because you _murder_ them, you weirdo,” Sicheng spat out, in a mocking tone that even in this moment, Xiaojun somehow still found enduring.

Minhyung’s gaze slowly traveled from Ten to Sicheng, taking the oldest vampire in, sizing him up. He then sighed out, and slumped forward, leaning his face onto Xiaojun’s shoulder, crossing his arms around him in a weird back hug.

The vampire turned his nose to bury it directly against one of the fading bite marks Ten had left, and inhaled deeply. Xiaojun tried to stay as still as possible, his hands clenched into fists as he willed all of his muscles to stay absolutely still. However, he couldn’t suppress the small wave of terrified goosebumps that sprung up on his arms, causing the hair on the back of his neck to stand on end.

“He really does smell good,” Minhyung breathed out. He brought one arm up, settling his elbow onto Xiaojun’s shoulder before leaning his head into his own palm there. The vampire’s bony elbow dug into his shoulder blade, making him wince.

“Why did you have to bring your friend, Tennie? Now this causes all kinds of problems to me, and that’s not fair. Haven’t you put me through enough already? I mean, you did kill me afterall-“

“Bullshit you know that was all yo-“ Sicheng had burst in before Ten sent him a look that communicated that it wasn’t worth it.

“You know it was your own addiction to my venom that killed you. Don’t act like you didn’t immediately go and seek out any and every vampire available after I broke it off,” Xiaojun felt Minhyung’s elbow dig deeper into his shoulder. “Also, why on Earth would we try and make this easy for you, when you’ve attacked and kidnapped an innocent bystander?” Ten replied.

A sinister smile spread across Minhyung’s face which caused the other vampires to scowl deeply before shooting each other a quick look.

“But he’s not innocent,” he continued to smile, his words seemingly strung onto one another. “He’s associated with you, the devil incarnate. The one who ruined my life, plummeting me into addiction and then murdering me in cold blood. So now, I get to do this.”

Minhyung took the arm still draped across Xiaojun, and grazed it down his neck, to his shoulder, all the way to his bleeding forearm. The vampire stared directly into Ten’s eyes as he pressed down fiercely into the wound causing Xiaojun to let out a scream, his eyes immediately watering.

Ten sprang forward causing Minhyung to release the pressure and instead wrap his arm around Xiaojun in a choke hold position. Ten was significantly closer to the others now, but stopped once again at Minhyung’s threat.

“I’d be careful if I were you,” his haunting voice echoed out. Bringing the hand he pressed into Xiaojun’s arm to his lips, he licked the blood away. Ten continued to glare at the other as silence spread out around them, only the sound of Minhyung licking his fingers being heard.

It was obvious that no one knew what to do in this situation. Minhyung was outnumbered, but one wrong move from either of them could result in a quick death for Xiaojun.

You could hear all three of the vampires’ minds whirling trying to solve this paradox while Xiaojun grew more and more fatigued. Sure, it wouldn’t be fun to die because of Minhyung, but at least that way he could just snap his neck and be done with it. This ‘waiting to bleed out and meet a slow death’ was infinitely worse, so Xiaojun decided to speak up.

“Can someone do something? If I’m going to die, can we at least get it over with quick?” He had wanted it to sound sassy and sharp, but his voice came out weak.

The phrase caught Minhyung’s attention though; he was obviously entertained by the remark. As he opened his mouth to reply something witty, his focus on Xiaojun, Sicheng made the first move.

Using the brief moment of Minhyung’s distraction, Sicheng had launched himself forward at full speed, becoming a blur to the human eye. He threw himself against Xiaojun’s captor, sending both of them flying. Ten shot forward, and Xiaojun felt himself being released from the restraints on his wrists before he could see it happen.

Ten was face to face with Xiaojun, his hands gently caressing his cheeks. He turned Xiaojun’s face side to side, briefly inspecting him before he placed a kiss on his forehead, eyes shining with unshed tears.

“You’re a fucking idiot.” Xiaojun rasped out, causing Ten to bark out a laugh.

“I know, I know. You can chew me out later, but let me at least get out somewhere safe.”

He picked up Xiaojun in his arms and sped out of the building. Xiaojun tried to turn his head and see what was happening with Sicheng and Minhyung, but he only caught a flurry of blurred figures colliding once more.

As Ten continued to race through the darkness, the wind whipped Xiaojun’s hair, cooling down the sweat that had begun to drip on his forehead. He glanced up to the vampire who had him safe in his arms and felt extremely cheesy and grateful while admiring his features.

“Will Sicheng be okay?” Xiaojun asked softly, wondering if Ten would be able to hear him over the rushing wind, but he just smirked, his eyes forward.

“Sicheng is almost four times as old as Minhyung. And if he doesn’t kill Minhyung, the vampires that we called on for help will. They should be arriving now to help him out, actually.”

Xiaojun nodded his head, not fully putting everything together; he was too busy staring at the blurry scenery that rushed past them. It was very blurry actually, but still kind of pretty in a mildly scary way.

When the blurriness started turning to blackness, Xiaojun thought that maybe it was something more. Were they moving at hyper speed? Was that even possible?

“How’re you so fast?” Xiaojun forced himself to speak out, words sounding jumbled. “It’s like… really zoom.”

“Really zoom? Eloquent as always, Xiaojun,” Ten glanced down at him, smiling. Even Ten himself was kind of dimming out and fading away.

The pretty vampire’s face changed from happy, to concerned, and then to something that looked like worry. Xiaojun didn’t like that. It ruined how pretty all the other blurry stuff was, and it made Ten not look as pretty. He pouted at that when he stared at Ten’s lips. Ten’s lips were saying something. It was weird; the other’s lips were moving, but no sound was coming out.

Just as Xiaojun opened his own mouth to ask Ten why he was mouthing random words, the dark and blurry edges of everything fully covered his sight.

_Oh, am I passing out?_ He thought, before he saw nothing.

It smelt like cleaning supplies and old people when Xiaojun came to, and he immediately knew he hadn’t died and gone to Heaven. Or maybe he had died, and he was in hell. He could imagine hell smelling this way.

His eyes blinked open, before he quickly closed them once more and squinted, trying to look and see where he was. Okay this was definitely not hell, because Hendery was sitting in a chair with Lucas holding him and patting his back, and there was no way they would end up there.

Continuing to try and adjust his eyes, he looked down at his arms and his ugly hospital gown. Xiaojun turned over his left arm to observe the gash that had been there, only to find several dark stitches running down where the wound had been. His eyebrows furrowed when he realized how big of a scar it would probably leave.

“Dery, baby, I think he’s waking up,” Lucas nudged Hendery, as Xiaojun looked back over at his friends. Hendery’s red-rimmed eyes locked onto his own, before his best friend barreled forward, crushing him in a hug. Lucas’s voice called out softly to remind him not to crush Xiaojun.

“You stupid,” he hiccupped, “stupid idiot! How could you even think to,” he grabbed Xiaojun’s hospital blanket and wiped his nose on it, “put yourself in a situation like that?” Hendery continued to cry, wetting Xiaojun’s shoulder as he patted his best friends back.

“Love you too, Hendery.”

Yangyang apparently had gone to get them snacks, since they had been by his bedside for almost six hours. They told him he arrived sometime in the middle of the night, and the hospital immediately sewed up his arm and checked him for a concussion. Everything seemed to be okay with him for the most part, besides the intense amount of blood loss.

A doctor came back in and checked his vitals before concluding he was healing appropriately. Hendery also handed him his cell phone that had blown up with calls from his mother and father. That was going to be interesting to explain to them.

After an hour or so of both Xiaojun catching up his friends on what had happened, and them explaining what they had heard (because apparently it had gotten onto the news), a nurse arrived to kick them out. Ordering his friends to leave, she prescribed more rest for Xiaojun and told them that he would probably be released tomorrow as long as the dizziness in his head didn’t come back.

They begrudgingly obliged, except for Hendery. Lucas had to pry him off Xiaojun’s side, only getting him to leave once he promised to call the three as soon as he woke up.

The nurse walked over to his IV bag, filling it with some more pain medicines. Xiaojun didn’t even have time to ask what they were before he was drifting back off to sleep.

It was dark outside when Xiaojun woke up this time. Someone was sitting in the corner, staring out the window through the parted blinds. When he shifted to get a better look, the head turned and he saw bright red eyes.

Xiaojun’s immediate reaction was fear. He was still loopy and on edge after everything had happened. His heart rate monitor spiked and a nurse came rushing in, flipping the light on.

“Are you okay, sweetie? Does something hurt, what happened?” She asked, pacing around him, looking at the screen and checking him over.

“No, n-no, sorry, bad dream,” his eyes were focused on where the person had been sat, which was now empty.

After a couple of minutes, she told him to try to rest more and to not worry because he could leave soon. She flicked the light off and shut the door.

When the darkness settled, the person moved out from behind the door, stepping into the moonlight from the window. Finally seeing who it was, Xiaojun couldn’t help but to become emotional, wetness gathering in his eyes.

“Hey,” whispered Ten.

Four weeks later, Ten and Xiaojun were walking hand in hand in the park, each one holding an ice cream cone. Ten’s was green tea flavored, and Xiaojun had tried to be adventurous and went with something called earl grey and lavender. It wasn’t too bad, but Xiaojun actually preferred Ten’s ice cream, so he kept trying to steal it.

“Come on, I’m your boyfriend!”

“But you know this is my favorite! I shouldn’t even be eating it in the first place, but you made me take you out for ice cream on account of me ‘being a dumbass’,” Ten whined, holding his cone as far away from Xiaojun as he could.

“And that’s exactly why you should let me have some more because you ARE a dumbass.”

Xiaojun smirked at Ten’s grimace, as he reluctantly moved the ice cream over to Xiaojun’s mouth so he could take another bite. Smiling, he leaned over and licked a thick stripe up the side, lightly biting into the treat, being careful not to get a brain freeze. Ten shook his head as the other began to skip in happiness while pulling him along, satisfied that he got his way.

“You’re lucky I love you,” Ten whispered out as Xiaojun turned his head fast, almost dropping his own cone.

“I’m lucky you what?” Ten blinked, his eyes staring wide at Xiaojun. His mouth opened and closed several times, obviously having a hard time deciding what to say.

“I mean…huh?” Looking at his bare wrist, the vampire untangled their hands. “Would you look at the time, I have to go help Sicheng work up the courage to ask out your boss. Gotta go!”

Xiaojun stepped into his path, arms outstretched in order to stop him. If Ten really wanted to leave, he could easily go around Xiaojun, but he stayed and stared at him instead. Approaching the vampire, he pressed a soft kiss to his lips, which Ten gladly returned in kind.

“I love you too.”

Ten smiled from ear to ear, grasping Xiaojun’s face awkwardly while still holding the ice cream. He began to pepper the other’s face with kisses on his cheeks, forehead, and of course, his lips.

“Oh thank god, this would have been so awkward otherwise,” they both laughed at his statement looking at one another, their eyes soft.

The vampire’s gaze explored Xiaojun’s face, taking in every detail before giving him one last kiss.

“I love you.”

“I love you too, weirdo,” Xiaojun laughed out, reconnecting their hands and beginning to walk down the path once more. “Now, what’s this about Sicheng and Kun?” Ten made an awkward face looking around.

“Yeah, when we visited you at work, he couldn’t stop staring at him. Apparently he’s been going into the shop whenever you’re not working to talk to him. He doesn’t want you to see him because he’s embarrassed,” Ten turned to face the other. “And he hates coffee!”

Xiaojun threw his head back in laughter, Ten joining him shortly after. They walked up to their little nook in the park where they always went, settling onto the soft grass, backs up against the trees.

Looking out at the glittering lights on the lake, Xiaojun felt a wet kiss press against his cheek. He turned and caught Ten staring at him. His eyes were currently the deep obsidian he had become most familiar with. They were so dark, the lights even bounced back and shined in them.

Xiaojun sighed out, turning back to face the water, trying not to become emotional, before leaning his head to rest onto Ten’s shoulder.

“I love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you read my whole story, I just want to thank you so much! I hope you all enjoyed it and had fun along the way! 
> 
> If anyone is interested, I'm thinking about after reveals are posted, that I might write a one shot between Ten and Xiaojun officially taking their physical relationship all the way. If anyone would be interested in that, please let me know!
> 
> comments and kudos are as nice as winwin~

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos keep me alive ~


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